The Dark Days Of Heartland
by Assassinkai742
Summary: Ryu thought heartland would be a paradise, a place of happiness where he could finally relax. But when war breaks out and the fusion dimension invades, he finds himself targeted by this new enemy and for an unknown reason. Is it because of his eyes? Or is it something else that crawls under his skin, that even he doesn't know about...?
1. prologue pt1

**Hello everyone**

 **I've been meaning to write this for a while now but I have never really got down to doing it because of a lot of real life stuff but now I am finally going to do this. Now this will be a series of fan-fictions based on the ARC-V series. This first story will be pre-series and based on the invasion of the fusion dimension. This is my very first fanfiction and I'll make a mistake at some point so it bothers you then let me know but please be respectful with what you say. No flaming will be tolerated and if you don't like this fan-fiction then don't read it however if you enjoy this fan-fiction then let me know why. One other thing from me is that the characters thoughts will be in italic and cards created by me will be highlighted in bold and will have a description at the bottom when they first appear.**

 **Okay with that out of the way ladies and gentlemen let's begin...**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh Arc-v.**

 **Prologue 1 part 1**

It was a peaceful morning in the suburbs of Heartland city but little did everyone know that the peace was about to be disturbed by the cry of a monster.

" **RYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU I'LL KILL YOU IF ITS THE LAST THING I DO!"** yelled the 18-year-old girl as she gripped her wet uniform. Meanwhile, this so-called Ryu was was lying on the sofa laughing hysterically. His face was as red as a tomato and even tears were coming out his eyes.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA I'm so sorry Asuka it was an acci... HA HA HA HAHAAAAA!" Ryu began but couldn't hold the laughter back as he went into another fit of laughter, but Asuka didn't find it so funny.

"You think that's funny, well I'll show you what I think is funny," Asuka said as she walked over to her bag and pulled out her trusty baseball bat.

"How would you like to have your face pounded into next week"! Asuka exclaimed as she charged at her brother with intentions of murdering him. Ryu noticed the bat and ducked under it as Asuka swung it but it also caused her to crash into Ryu and fall on top of him. Ryu groaned in pain as he pushed Asuka off him.

"God Asuka you're so heavy, you need to eat less," Ryu said cheekily as he picked up his school bag. Asuka's expression turned from pained to rage as she gave an angry glare at Ryu, fire in her eyes and if looks could kill Ryu would already be dead.

" **YOU CHEEKY LITTLE TOAD I'LL KILL YOU!"** Asuka screeched, picking up her baseball bat and charging at her brother once again with intentions of murdering him.

Ryu then decided it was time to go ran through the open patio door and slammed it shut. The door locked with a faint *click*. Asuka using all the strength she could muster tried to force the door open only to realise she needed the keys, ran into the kitchen, swiped them from the counter and dashed back into the living room only to come back out to see Ryu disappear over the garden wall.

"Just wait till he comes home then he'll be sorry" She sighed angrily and then decided to get cleaned up.

* * *

"Yahoo!" Ryu yelled as he sped along happily through the streets on his skateboard. Not only did he manage to really piss off his sister enough so she would get her baseball bat out, he had made an epic getaway to and to top it all of he wasn't late for his first day of school.

This is Ryu Hankou he is about 14 ½ years old, has red eyes and average length black hair that falls over to his right with two small lengths of hair, one almost covering his right eye and the other fell on the left of his right eye, both like the rest of his hair falling right. He's quite cheeky as you can see but is also very caring.

* * *

Ryu soon started to ride towards the main part of the city and turned down a long road where there were shops on both sides of the street as far as the eye could see. There were newsagents, greengrocers, butchers and all sorts of different shops. People went to fro with their daily business, most of which were going to the nearby train station to catch monorail that ran overhead to get to work. As Ryu rode down the street, he heard a smash of glass and an alarm come from one of the nearby stores. He looked over to where the noise was coming from only to see a massive fist smash into his face. A few seconds later Ryu woke up to see that he was laying by a dented car and his skateboard was missing. He looked up just in time to see a figure run into a nearby alleyway holding his skateboard with a girl about his age in pursuit, and wanting his skateboard back, angrily stormed towards the alleyway.

Once he was there he saw the same girl arguing with a big muscular guy with dreadlocks and some slim guy dressed in white. The girl had dark green hair which fell to her chin and green bangs which were shaped like a bird's wing, tucked under some strands on her left. The rest of her hair was tied into a ponytail (similar to Selena's). She also had pink eyes and a face he thought he reconsigned.

"Look!" the girl exclaimed angrily at the muscular man,

"I want you to stay away from me or I'll get Shun to kick both your asses you got that!"

"Well he can try all he likes but Kurosaki ain't going to be beating us anytime soon" scoffed the man in white, he then notices Ryu standing at the end of the alleyway.

"Hey, kid! You lost or are you looking for a fight with The Pack" he called while cracking his knuckles.

"I guess you could say that but I'm really here to reclaim my skateboard and if I were you I'd give it back" Ryu replied smugly.

" _Great my first day and I'm already in a fight with a couple of thugs"_.

The man with the dreadlocks smirked, "what do you say Chills, should we teach this brat a lesson?"

The man named Chills smirked. "Sure Scorch lets knock him around for a bit," he said cockily as he walked other to the muscular man. Then both of them activated their duel disks and D-gazers.

"If you think you're SO tough then duel us and prove it," Scorch said

"OK then I accept your challenge" Ryu replied confidently as he activated his own duel disk and D-gazer.

"Hold on!" exclaimed the girl, I'm getting in on this too," she said as she readied her own duel disk and D-gazer.

"Alright, looks like this is a tag duel," Ryu said excitedly as he prepared his duel disk.

 **AR VISION LINK ESTABLISHED**

 **DUEL!**

 **Scorch: 4000**

 **Chills: 4000**

 **VS**

 **Ryu: 4000**

 **Ruri: 4000**

 **TURN 1 Scorch hand: 5**

"So what are we dealing with exactly?" Ryu asked

"I'll explain" Ruri began, "these two Jackasses are Scorch and Chills, the leaders of an underground duel gang called "The Pack" who beat unsuspecting duelists and steal their decks, they tried to get my brother Shun to join but thankfully he refused".

"And they're now after you I presume?"

"Yeah, they won't stop until my brother joins them"

"Jeez, what did your brother do to get their attention so badly?"

"You don't want to know," Ruri said with a grim look on her face.

" _Huh, better not bring that up_ " Ryu quickly thought.

" _Mental note, don't bring that incident in a conversation with her_ ".

"I hate to interrupt you brats but we have a duel to get on with," Scorch said annoyed.

A tic mark appeared on Ryu's forehead. "Say what!" Ryu said, angrily raising his fist at Scorch. "I'll make you pay for calling that."

"Whatever. I'm going first" Scorch said to the two teens. "And I'll begin with the spell card Pyrotechnic. And now with this in play, each time player summons a non-fire monster, they get slammed with 500 points of damage."

" _Damn it, this will make things tough,"_ Ruri thought as she looked over at Ryu. " _I hope this guy will pull his own weight._ "

"I set one monster face down and another card face down, turn end" Scorch continued as the cards appeared on the field. "Now let's see what you've got brat."

 **Scorch hand: 2**

 **TURN 2 Ryu**

"With pleasure, my turn I draw!" Ryu said as his he drew his first card.

 **Ryu hand: 6**

Ryu studied his hand carefully. " _okay time to get to work, no more fun and games so look out Scorch because I'm going to make pay for messing with me_ " Ryu thought as his mind began to work out a plan to get over Scorches spell. " _Now let's see 2 monsters, 3 spells and a trap_ " he pondered for a moment and then something snapped in his head, he had a plan.

"I summon **Gauntlet Dragon** in attack mode!" Ryu called out. Then out of nowhere, a white and yellow humanoid dragon emerged wearing gladiator-like armour and it had no wings, but the most notable thing was the two massive gauntlets it wore. The left one was white and the right one was black. It let out a mighty roar and got into a battle stance ready to tear at scorches defence.

 **Gauntlet Dragon: Level 4/LIGHT/Dragon/1500 ATK/ 1000 DEF**

Scorch began laughing "you idiot did you forget about my spell!" he spat out. As if on cue the ground under Ryu turned red and a pillar of fire shot up from underneath him consuming him.

 **Ryu: 4000 – 500 = 3500**

Ryu cried out as the fire engulfed him while Scorch only laughed. He looked over to Scorch. "Are you done yet?" he asked as the fire dispersed while Scorch only stared at him.

"Good now where was I, oh yeah I remember I was going to activate my gauntlet dragon's effect which allows me to special summon a level four or lower light or dark dragon type monster ignoring its summoning conditions," he said as he picked out another card from his hand.

"I'm going to bring out Black Dragon Collapserpent from my hand!" The new dragon that emerged was frightening to look at. It was serpent-like with spikes on its wings and a dark grey armour on it. It let out roar and looked ready to battle.

 **Black Dragon Collapserpent: level 4/DARK/Dragon/1800 ATK/1700 DEF**

Once again Scorches spell activated causing damage Ryu but he looked like he didn't care.

 **Ryu: 3500 – 500 = 3000**

Scorch looked at Ryu confused, why was he taking damage to summon two monsters who were completely useless to him this turn. But then it hit him, both monsters were level four. Scorch smiled "I get it now, you're going to use them to XYZ summon aren't you well it's too bad that whatever your summoning will still be useless to you".

Ryu just smiled back, "I doubt that. Now I overlay my gauntlet dragon and black dragon collaserpent!" he said while raising his hand in the air. The two monsters responded to his command and glowed their attribute colours, Gauntlet Dragon yellow and collapserpent purple. They then formed into balls of energy and then shot up into the sky as streams of energy dancing wildly like two reunited souls. The galaxy XYZ portal opened up and the energy streams flew into the portal and a split second afterwards a light shot out of the portal.

"Queen drowned in flames, rise up from the ashes in your new form and command the dragons of this pitiful world!" Ryu chanted as the ground erupted and covered the field in flames. "XYZ summon! Rise up rank four Queen Dragon Djinn!" The flames parted and the body of a young woman rose out. She had short blonde hair and wore some sort of grey crown, she also held some sort of wand which looked like a little serpent-like dragon.

The rest of her body soon rose out of the flames and the three other duelists stared in shock as the lower part of her body was a dragon's body which was completely made out of flames. She gave a cold stair at Scorch like she was judging whether he was good or evil, which gave Scorch an uneasy feeling.

 **Queen Dragon Djinn: Rank 4/DARK/Dragon/XYZ/2200 ATK/1200 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS 2**

Scorch shook off the feeling "even though you managed to summon a powerful monster you'll still take damage from my spell" Scorch said as the spell card activated once again.

 **Ryu: 3000 – 500 = 2500**

Ryu smirked, "you know Scorch how about a taste of your own medicine cause I play the spell **XYZ Mirror**!"

"No, not that card!" Scorch howled, Out of all the cards Ryu could play he had to play that one.

"yes I'm afraid it is that card and thanks to it you take the same amount of damage that I took this turn!".

Scorch grunted as the spell shot a translucent ray of white energy at him and pushed him back a little bit.

 **Scorch: 4000 – 1500 = 2500**

Ruri stared at Scorch for a second, surprised at what had just happened.

" _Who is this kid_ , _usually people would be playing defensive against Scorch and Chills strategy, but he's going full on attack against them, he's showing no fear just..._ " she thought as she stared into space. _"Just like Shun would_ ",she smiled and looked over at Ryu who was beaming proudly at what he had done.

" _We may actually win this._ " This thought soon filled her with confidence. If she won this duel then Scorch and Chills would never bother her again. She beamed at the thought of being left alone once and for all but was soon brought back to earth by Ryu's voice.

"I set one card face down, turn end," Ryu said as he placed his last card onto his duel disk.

 **Ryu hand: 2**

"So what do you think?"

"Not bad brat you've got some skills, but no one humiliates my Bro and gets away with it!" Chills shouted.

"My turn I draw!" Chills shouted while drawing his card and adding it to his hand.

 **TURN 3 Chills**

 **Chills hand:6**

" _And once I set up our combo there's no way they'll be able to beat us, so look out brats because your end is near this is what you get for interfering with our affairs. Heh heh heh heh._ "

 _Author made cards_ _:_

 **Pyrotechnic**

 _Continuous spell_

 _Effect: Each time a player summons a non-fire attributed monster, inflict 500 points to the player who summoned that monster. If your opponent summons a fire attribute monster destroy this card._

 **Gauntlet Dragon: Level 4/LIGHT/Dragon/1500 ATK/ 1000 DEF**

 _Effect: During your main phase if this card was normal summoned this turn, you can special summon one level 4 or lower light or dark dragon type monster ignoring its summoning conditions. You can only use the effect of Gauntlet Dragon once per turn._

 **XYZ Mirror**

 _Quick-play spell_

 _Effect: You can only Activate this card when you take damage from a card effect, inflict the same amount of damage to your opponent. If you control_ an Xyz _monster inflict damage to your opponent equal to the total amount of damage you took this turn before this card was activated._

* * *

 **We'll there you go the first chapter is up. Honestly, I think I could have done better writing this but I had a hard time coming up with ideas but hopefully, once this story starts going it will get easier to write chapters but anyway, I hope you like this story and leave a review on what you think and if I could improve it in any way (which I sure I'll need to).**

 **Two final things are that I know Ruri hasn't been revealed yet and no-one knows what she looks like but remember this is my interpretation of her. Also, I might accept a few OC's but this is a definite maybe because I have already made plenty of OC's for this story and I'm afraid I might have to kill your OC's off, but hopefully I can add your OC's though.**

 **Anyway I hope you enjoy this story and I'll see you in the next update**

 **Bye!**


	2. prologue pt2

**Hey looks like I'm finally back (took me long enough) and now here's the second part of the first prologue and the conclusion of the Duel between Ryu and Ruri against Scorch and Chills. I do hope you enjoy this chapter and leave a review on why you do. But enough from me, let's get on with the story.**

 **Also, flashbacks from now on will be in italic.**

 **The disclaimer is on the first page.**

 **Prologue 2 part 2**

 **Scorch: 2500**

 **Chills: 4000**

 **VS**

 **Ryu: 2500**

 **Ruri: 4000**

 **Scorches field:**

 **Pyrotechnic**

 **continuous spell**

 **one set monster and one set card in the spell and trap zone.**

 **Ryu's field** **:**

 **Queen Dragon Djinn: Rank 4/DARK/Dragon/XYZ/2200 ATK/1200 DEF**

 **OVERLAY UNITS 2**

 **one set card in the spell and trap zone.**

 **TURN 3 Chills hand:6**

"Get ready to feel the wrath of the 1,2 combo of fire and ice!" Chills announced as he picked a card from his hand.

"I activate **Tsunami**! And guess what it has the exact same effect as pyrotechnic except that it effects non-water monsters."

"O _h great we're in real trouble now, how the hell are we supposed to get over that_ " Ryu thought, then he realised something "hey aren't you both going to take damage from each others effects!" Ryu pointed out and waited for an answer from Chills but it was Ruri who answered for him

"No, not with the strategy they're using," she said.

Ryu looked at her confused, what the hell was she going on about, he looked over to Chills and stared at him and Soon Chills began laughing. " What the hell is so funny," Ryu asked slightly angered.

Chills answered, "I can tell from that stupid expression you've had on your face for the last two minutes is that that you're trying to guess what our strategy is, but you're never gonna guess it but don't take my word for it, I'll show you."

Ryu watched Chills' right hand carefully move over his hand like he was deciding what to play, finally plucked a card from his hand. "I play Book Of Taiyou which forces Scorches face down monster into attack mode," he said. A giant orange tome with hieroglyphics on it rose out of the ground and shone an orange light on scorches monster. The card flipped face up and it revealed the picture of a stegosaurus, then the ground began shaking, opened up and a large stegosaurus crawled out. It's body looked like it was made out of lava which had cooled down and lava coursed across its body like veins.

 **Flare Stego: Level 4/FIRE/Dinosaur/1300 ATK/2000 DEF**

"Now normally I would take damage due to my bro's spell but I activate my trap Damage Diet!" Scorch explained, the trap then flipped face up and a green aura glowed around Scorch as the tsunami card blasted a powerful wave of water towards Scorch.

 **Scorch: 2500 – 250 = 2250**

" _A good idea to use damage diet to lower the damage, but then why did they need Book Of Taiyou?_ " Ryu thought.

"Now the effect of my Flare Stego activates so here's 800 points of damage coming your way!" Scorch called.

"Wha-!" Ryu began but didn't get to finish as the massive reptilian beast swung it's spiked tail straight at Ryu, knocking him to the ground.

 **Ryu: 2500 – 800 = 1700**

Chills smiled at what he'd done, nobody disrespects "The Pack" and gets away with it and he sure hadn't let Ryu get away with it.

"I think that's enough punishment for now so I'll set one monster in defense mode and one card face down and end my turn" Chills said as the cards appeared. Ruri looked at Ryu who was struggling to get up, " _This kid isn't going to last much longer,I need to do something"_ she thought and looked at the cards in her hand.

"My turn, I Draw!" Ruri yelled. Ruri then looked at her hand closely, it was go time.

 **TURN 4 Ruri hand:6**

"I play **Storm Prediction** " Ruri called. "With this, I can send one Sky spy monster from my deck to the graveyard and destroy one spell or trap you control, so I send **Sky spy - Strike Robin** to the grave to destroy Pyrotechnic."

 **Sky spy - Strike Robin:Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1200 ATK/850 DEF**

The spiritual form of a large robin appeared it seemed to have two large machine guns on both of its wings. The weaponized bird then charged at Scorches spell and crashed into it shattering the spell into thousands of yellow particles. Ruri smiled, she wasn't done yet.

"Now robin's effect is activated, so when he's sent to the grave because of a Sky spy card, he inflicts 800 points of damage to you," she said directing her to look towards chills.

"Wait how can it, Storm Prediction isn't a Sky spy card so Chills doesn't take any damage!" Scorch yelled confused.

"Wrong! Storm Prediction is always treated as a Sky spy card, in fact, most of the Sky spy support cards are always treated as Sky spy cards, just your bad luck" Ruri said smugly as Strike Robin turned around and began firing it's two large machine guns at Chills.

Chills just grunted,"you think a little birdie with a few guns will scare me you must be out of your mind cause now I activate the trap Damage Diet to half the damage!"

Just like before, the familiar trap activated and a green aura glowed around Chills.

 **Chills: 4000 – 400 = 3600**

"Storm Predictions other effect activates!" Ruri continued ignoring Chills. "So I can look at the top card of my deck and if it's a Sky spy monster I can reveal it and either add it to my hand or send it to the graveyard"

This was the play that mattered, if Ruri didn't draw the right card then they would be in a whole heap of trouble. She went to draw her card but then hesitated.

" _What if don't draw the right card, if I draw the wrong one then we'll lose_ ," she thought and then sighed sadly " _I was a fool to take on Scorch and Chills alone without Shun,"_ she thought as she Remembered what brother told her.

Flashback

 _Ruri sat on the couch holding her phone in the empty house alone, waiting. She looked out the window to see it raining outside and the grip on her phone tightened._

 _'Where the hell is he' she thought, suddenly the door burst open and she looked over to it to see a drenched Yuto helping Shun walk. Shun had his arm around Yuto's shoulder and his head was down. Yuto was breathing heavily and Ruri knew they had been running but from what?_

" _What the hell happened to you, where have you been!" she yelled. Yuto looked up to her._

 _"We got ambushed by "The Pack", there were too many of them so we bailed," he said. Ruri froze as if someone were pointing a gun at her head. She immediately hugged them both causing Yuto to blush slightly._

" _You idiots I was so worried about you!" she yelled, she then paused._

 _"What did you guys even do to them," she asked Yuto, then he whispered something in her ear and her expression changed._

" _YOU DID WHAT!" she shrieked and then slapped Shun causing him to wince in pain._

" _When I tell mum you boys better hope that god is on your side because at the moment your in a world of sh*t now!" she shrieked again. Shun's eye's widened_

" _NO! I beg of you do not tell mum, she'll kill me if you!" he exclaimed in fear. Ruri gave Shun a long hard stare but she eventually gave in._

 _"fine, on one condition that you do whatever I want for a week," she said. Shun stared at Ruri in disbelief while Yuto just laughed._

 _"fine," he said annoyed. Then he gave his sister a serious look"but promise me this, you will not duel "The Pack" no matter what, they'll use you to get to me so stay away from them " he said._

" _Don't worry I will" she replied and then turned to Yuto who was still laughing but when he looked at Ruri he became quite fearful of her._

 _"Oh, don't worry Yuto," she said teasingly, "you're not going to miss out on this either because I have something special in store for you," she said deviously, while slowly walking closer to him._

 _"W...what w...w...wou..ld the...that b...b...b...be" he stuttered while on the verge of running screaming from the house because you did not want to see Ruri whenever she's angry._

" _NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Yuto screamed and it echoed all the way down the street._

End Of Flashback

Ruri smiled at the memory, she couldn't wait to tease Yuto and Shun about it.

"C'mon Ruri draw already," said a voice.

Ruri looked over to see that Ryu had gotten back on his feet.

"Whatever your planning I'll be there to back you up 100 percent, you got that," Ryu said supporting. Ruri smiled at him "thanks, now let's win this thing"

 _"This is it, either do or die,"_ she thought confidently and placed her hand on the top card of her deck.

"Let's go!" she exclaimed as she drew her card with her eyes closed. Silence filled the air until Chills broke it.

"Well, c'mon, what did you draw," he asked nervously. Ruri opened her eyes slowly

it was...

A monster!

Ruri smiled yet again "I drew **Sky spy - Scout Owl** ," she said revealing the card "and I'll add him to my hand," she said placing the card in her hand.

 **Sky spy - Scout Owl: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1400 ATK/1200 DEF**

Ruri then took another card from her hand. "Hey boys do you remember this card"she said revealing it. Scorch and Chills stared in shock "no way!" they both exclaimed.

"Yes way, I activate another copy of Storm Prediction," Ruri said activating the familiar card.

"I send another Sky spy - Strike Robin to the grave to destroy Tsunami!" Once again the spiritual form of Strike Robin appeared and this time destroyed Tsunami. " And remember my robin's effect" Ruri continued as the bird swung round and began blasting it's machine guns at Chills like before.

 **Chills: 3600 – 800 = 2800**

"Now I summon Sky spy – Scout Owl!" declared Ruri and a gust of wind blew across the field as a large owl with a pair of binoculars around its neck flew down from the sky. As it landed it gave out a loud "HOOT HOOT" and looked ready to follow it's mistresses commands.

 **Sky spy - Scout Owl: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1400 ATK/1200 DEF**

"Now owl's effect activates allowing me to either add a level 4 or lower Sky spy monster from my deck to my hand or send one to the grave, so I'll add **Sky spy Scope Falcon** To my hand."

 **Sky spy - Scope Falcon: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1400 ATK/700 DEF**

"Now since I control a Sky spy monster I can special summon **Sky spy - Back-up Budgie** from my hand" Said Ruri. Another gust of blew across the field and a birds cry could be heard from behind Scorch and Chills. Everyone turned their heads towards the sound then as if it came out of nowhere a yellow budgie around the same size as Scout Owl flew past Scorch and landed beside Scout Owl. On its back were many different weapons ranging from pistols to rocket launchers and grenades!.

 **Sky Spy - Back-up Budgie: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/900 ATK/700 DEF**

"Nice work" Ryu complimented, proud of Ruri's play.

"Thanks" Ruri replied and then turned towards Scorch and Chills.

"Let me guess you're going to XYZ summon as well," Scorch said with a disgusted look. Ruri just stared at him.

"Yes, something wrong?" she asked confused.

"No, it's just that people always rely on XYZ summoning nowadays" Chills answered. "They have no respect for good ol' fashioned strategy."

"Whatever, I overlay Scout Owl and Back-up Budgie!" Ruri called out. The monsters looked at each other eager to obey their mistress then glowed their attribute colours, both green then shot up in the sky as streams of energy. The XYZ portal opened up and both monsters flew into it, a split second later lightning shot out the portal.

"Embodiment of thunder and lightning, use the powers gifted to you to destroy all who opposes me!" Ruri chanted as storm clouds soon covered the sky above the duel "XYZ summon! descend from the sky! rank four Lightning Chidori!

A blue light began emanating from the clouds and a bird which looked like it was completely made of lightning descended out of the storm clouds. As it reached the ground it let out an ear piercing cry and sent out shock waves in all directions.

 **Lightning Chidori: Rank 4/WIND/Thunder/XYZ/1900 ATK/1600 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS 2**

Ryu looked at the monster "whoa" was all Ryu said as he gazed at the monsters awesomeness. Ruri saw him and smirked.

"If you think it's cool now just wait till you see it's effect which I use right now, you see when Lightning Chidori is XYZ summoned I can return one set card my opponent controls to the bottom of their deck, go! LIGHTNING GUST!" The massive thunderbird began flapping it's wings sending a powerful gust of wind towards Chills' defense monster and at that moment lightning began shocking the card. Chills groaned as the card retreated into card form and returned to him, then he placed it on the bottom of his deck.

"I'm not done yet because I activate Lightning Chidori's other effect!By using one overlay unit I can return one face -up card my opponent controls to the top of their deck, LIGHTNING GUST!" Once again the thunder blasted a powerful gust of wind towards Scorches monster but not before absorbing one of its green overlay units into its chest.

 **Lightning Chidori: OVERLAY UNITS 1**

"why you little bitch" Scorch growled and then returned the card to the top of his deck while Ruri ignored his comment and continued with her turn"I set one card facedown and end my turn" she finished as the cards appeared on the field.

 **Ruri hand:3**

"My turn" Scorch yelled and drew his first card in the entire duel but he wasn't pleased with the card he drew as it was the one he just used, in fact, he far from pleased, he was completely pissed off.

" _First I'll deal with the brat, then the bitch will have her turn_ ," he thought as his anger slowly built up inside him.

 **TURN 5 Scorch hand:3**

"Since you control a monster and I control none I can summon **Flare Allo** to the field," Scorch said while placing the card on his duel disk. The new dinosaur that appeared was an allosaurus whose scales were covered in red and yellow patterns. Its mouth was full of fire and it looked like it wanted to eat Ryu!

 **Flare Allo: Level 6/FIRE/Dinosaur/2200 ATK/1800 DEF**

"And when he's summoned by his own effect you get hit with 500 points of damage brat," he said menacingly as the dinosaur breathed fire at Ryu.

 **Ryu: 1700 – 500 = 1200**

"Battle phase, don't think you're getting away for screwing up our strategy bitch, Flare Allo attack Lightning Chidori! PREHISTORIC POUNDING!" Flare Allo began charging at Lightning Chidori, eager to tear it's throat out.

"Not so fast Scorch I activate my trap Negate Attack!" Ryu called out. "Now that will stop your attack cold," he said as Flare Allo slammed into an invisible barrier in front of Chidori and was thrown back to Scorch.

"FINE! I set one monster and end my turn" Scorch said as the monster appeared face down.

 **Scorch hand:1**

"It's my turn" called out Ryu as he prepared to begin his turn. He placed his hand on the top card of his deck and then his eyes turned silver and suddenly Ryu felt different than before. Ruri looked at him surprised " _what the hell? what happened to his eyes?_ "

She then there was a flashing coming from her right hand and she looked at it to see that the Yellow gem in her bracelet was flashing Yellow. "W _hat? why is my bracelet flashing? this is weird._ "

"My turn draw," Ryu said. His voice sounded serious and not as energetic as before.

 **TURN 6 Ryu hand:3**

"I play card of sanctity, so we all draw until we have six cards in our hand," Ryu said and so everyone drew.

 **Everyone's hands:6**

"Now I play the spell **Dragon's Back-up** " the card had a picture of two small dragons fighting a much larger one. "And with this, I can send one Dragonic monster from my hand to the grave to special summon another one from my deck with the same level, so I'll discard **Dragonic Trooper** to special summon **Dragonic Field Expert**."

 **Dragonic Trooper:Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/700 ATK/1500 DEF**

 **Dragonic Field Expert:Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/1000 ATK/900 DEF**

The new monster that appeared was similar to Gauntlet Dragon as it wore the same Viking-like armour but on the shoulder pad was a crest of a dragon. It also carried a map, a compass and strapped to it's back was a humongous axe capable of slicing anything in half.

 **Dragonic Field Expert:Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/1000 ATK/900 DEF**

"Now I tribute my field expert in order to summon Strong Wind Dragon!And since I summoned Strong Wind by tributing a dragon type monster it gains attack equal to half the tributed monsters attack." A strong tornado started up in the middle of the field and inside it was two glowing red eyes. Then a large muscular green dragon emerged out of the tornado and let out and almighty roar.

 **Strong Wind Dragon:Level 6/WIND/Dragon/2900 ATK(originally 2400)/1000 DEF**

"Now I equip Queen Djinn with the spell Fighting Spirit and she gains 300 attack points for each monster you control so she gains 600 points. Also if you try to destroy her I can destroy Fighting Spirit instead." A whitish gold aura began glowing around Queen Djinn.

 **Queen Dragon Djinn ATK: 2200 + 600 = 2800**

Chills stared at the dragon queen in disbelief. It had enough power to wipe him out. "Wait a minute kid! let's just talk about this and forget this whole mishap what do you say?" he said secretly praying that Ryu wouldn't sic his dragons on him.

"Battle phase," Ryu said completely ignoring Chills.

"Queen Dragon Djinn attack him directly! HELLFIRE FLAME!" The queen obeyed her master and swung her dragon wand around then shot fire out of it and Chills cried out as the flames enveloped him.

 **Chills:2800 – 2800 = 0**

 **Chills: LOSE**

Scorch looked back at Ryu and that weird feeling he had at the beginning of the duel came back and he stared at the cold look in Ryu's silver eyes. Ryu smirked "Strong Wind Dragon attack his defense monster! BURST STREAK!" Strong Wind Dragon roared before blasting a powerful fire attack on Scorches helpless defense monster which was soon covered in flames. "I also forgot to mention that strong wind dragon can inflict piercing damage!" yelled Ryu.

"It can what!?" exclaimed Scorch as his monster was blown to bits.

 **Scorch: 2250 – 900 = 1350**

Flare Stego's flip effect activates to you take 800 points of damage!" retaliated Scorch as fire shot out from Flare Stego's mouth and into Ryu.

 **Ryu: 1200 – 800 = 400**

 **Queen Dragon Djinn ATK: 2800 – 300 = 2500**

"I set one card facedown and end my turn," Ryu said and as soon as those words left his mouth Ryu's eyes went back to normal. Ryu let out a loud groan and stumbled slightly "did they do it again?" he asked himself and then realized what happened. "Dammit they get worse every time," he said to himself and then looked at Chills unconscious body on the floor " _Shit I really did a number on him_ ," he thought.

 **Ryu hand:1**

Ruri meanwhile looked at her bracelet to see that it had stopped flashing. " _What in the hell happened?_ " she thought but then she shook her head " _focus Ruri just ignore what happened and concentrate on the duel._ "

"Er...m...my turn draw," Scorch said as he drew his next card.

 **TURN 7 Scorch hand:7**

Scorch had no idea at what just happened, all he knew was that his partner was defeated and he needed to get over two dragons with very high attack power, but first, he needed to get rid of lightning Chidori and he had just the monster to do that.

"I tribute Flare Allo to summon my most powerful monster to behold the king of the volcanoes! **Flare Tyranno**!" Scorches new monster looked like combination of a T-Rex and a volcano, it's scales were red and its body had what appeared to be rock-like armor on it and it growled menacingly at the two teens.

 **Flare Tyranno:Level 8/FIRE/Dinosaur/2800 ATK/2300 DEF**

"Bottomless trap hole!" called out Ryu activating the trap but Scorch already had a counter card up his sleeve. "Nope! I play Forbidden Lance so Tyranno loses 800 attack but it's unaffected by your spells and traps."

 **Flare Tyranno ATK 2800 – 800 = 2000**

"And now it has just enough attack points to mop the floor with your Chidori. Tyranno attack!" Scorch roared "MAGMA MELTDOWN!" The tyrannosaurus blasted a powerful wave of fire capable of melting anything directly at Lightning Chidori.

"I won't let You!" cried Ruri "trap open! Impenetrable Attack!" The blast soon hit Chidori and it cried out as it fought off the attack and was surviving it but that didn't mean Ruri was safe as some of the flames burned her.

 **Ruri:4000 – 100 = 3900**

"I set one card and activate the spell The Dark Door so all of us can only attack with one monster at a time, turn end," Scorch said as he ended his turn.

 **Scorch hand:4**

"My turn, I draw!" Ruri called out.

 **TURN 8 Ruri hand:4**

"I summon Sky spy – Scope Falcon in attack mode!" Ruri yelled, then like with all her other Sky spy monsters a gust of wind blew across the field and a large falcon appeared. It held a telescope in one of its wings and strapped to its back was a sniper rifle.

 **Sky spy - Scope Falcon: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1400 ATK/700 DEF**

"Now for its effect I can discard one card to look at one card in your hand and return it to the deck," she said as she sent another Sky spy card to the graveyard. Scope falcon then unstrapped it's sniper rifle and fired it at one of Scorches cards. The card then rose up in the air and revealed itself to be a Transmodify, then was shuffled back into the deck and Ruri's deck then began to glow.

"Since I sent Sky spy – Back-up Budgie to the grave, it's effect lets me draw one card," she said before drawing her card. "Now I activate the effect of my Chidori," she said as Chidori absorbed one of its green overlay units.

 **Lightning Chidori: OVERLAY UNITS 0**

Scorch smiled, just the right moment he had been waiting for. "I play my trap Breakthrough Skill!, which negates your monsters effects!" The trap sent a bright ray of light towards Lightning Chidori before it could send a gust of wind towards Scorches Tyranno. Chidori screeched in pain as the light hit it.

Ruri growled annoyed that her monsters effects were negated but she still had one more card left to play. "Battle phase, Chidori attack Tyrrano!, THUNDER PUNISHER!, and when Chidori attacks I play the spell Ego Boost to pump up his attack points by 1000!"

 **Lightning Chidori ATK: 1900 + 1000 = 2900**

Chidori's body began to glow gold as sent a bolt of lightning towards Tyranno, the lightning struck Tyrrano point blank and it cried out in pain as it died.

 **Scorch:1350 – 100 = 1250**

Scorch grinned, didn't care that his best monster was gone after all he had a way to bring it back.

"I end my Turn" Ruri finished

 **Ruri hand:2**

Scorches grin grew wider and he began laughing. "It's time to end you! my turn, draw!" he laughed and grinned at the card he drew.

 **TURN 9 Scorch hand:4**

"First I shall use Monster Reborn to resurrect Flare Tyranno," Scorch said as the ground exploded behind him and his ace monster rose out of the rubble. "Now Tyranno destroy that Chidori once and for all, MAGMA MELTDOWN!."

Like before Scorches Tyranno blasted a wave of fire at Chidori and this time it actually destroyed it.

 **Ruri:3900 – 900 = 3000**

"Now Tyranno's effect activates and half of your overgrown chicken's attack points are deducted from your life points, go DOOMSDAY ERUPTION!" Scorch hissed.

"What!?" exclaimed both teens as Tyranno sent another wave of fire in Ruri's direction and she cried out as the fire hit her.

 **Ruri:3000 – 950 = 2050**

Scorch smiled at what he had done.

"I set one card face down Turn end"

Ryu stared at Scorch angrily. "That's it you bastard your gonna get it now" Ryu hissed, his anger taking over. "My turn I draw!" Ryu screamed, his eyes turning silver again.

 **TURN 10 Ryu hand:2**

"I play Pot Of Greed so I draw two cards!" Ryu exclaimed angrily drawing his cards.

" _Even if the brat attacks me my face down card is Reinforcements which will increase Flare Tyranno's attack points to 3300 which is stronger than his dragons 2900_ ," Scorch thought.

"I tribute Strong Wind Dragon and Queen Dragon Djinn to tribute summon **Zexrax The Sealed Dragon Lord** ," Said Ryu as the monsters transformed into white spheres of light.

"What!?" exclaimed everyone as the sphere's merged together and exploded in a flash of light. Out of the light emerged a dragon clad in light and dark blue armor (that looked similar to Dark Rebellion's) it's chest had large blue diamond on it and it's left hand was the head of Dragunity Darkspear. It let out a small growl and got in a battle stance ready to fight scorches Tyranno.

 **Zexrax The Sealed Dragon Lord:Level 7/DARK/Dragon/2800 ATK/2000 DEF**

"You wasted a powerful monster for that?" Scorch asked. Ryu gave Scorch a twisted evil smile and it gave Ruri an uneasy feeling, "Looks like you need a lesson in strategy cause now I activate Zexrax's effect, whenever he's is summoned your monster loses 1000 attack points and he gains 500."

 **Zexrax The Sealed Dragon Lord ATK: 2800 + 500 = 3300**

 **Flare Tyranno ATK: 2800 – 1000 = 1800**

"Now battle phase!, Zexrax attack flare Tyranno! DARKSPEAR SLASH!" Zexrax jumped up in the air as the blade on Dragunity Darkspear's head began glowing purple and then extended so Zexrax could use it as a sword.

"Trap open! Reinforcements and with this Flare Tyranno gains 500 attack!" yelled Scorch as Tyranno let out a roar in agreement.

 **Flare Tyranno ATK: 1800 + 500 = 2300**

Zexrax then yelled out a war cry and flew towards Tyranno at high speed and with one clean swipe, slashed Tyranno in half and it cried out in absolute agony as it died yet again. The impact from the attack sent Scorch flying back down the alleyway.

 **Scorch:1250 – 1000 = 250**

Scorch got up and began laughing. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to beat me" but soon stopped laughing as Ryu was laughing as well. "What's so funny?" he asked.

Ryu stopped laughing "it's over, Zexrax inflicts 300 points of damage to my opponent when he destroys an opponent's monster, RADIATION PHASER!" The gem on Zexrax's chest began to glow blue and Scorch stared in disbelief as he was about to lose, How could he lose he never lost. The feeling that Scorch kept getting came back again and he finally knew what the feeling was.

It was fear.

Zexrax shot a translucent ray of blue energy out of the diamond at Scorch and he cried out as the ray hit him and knocked him into a pile of trash cans.

 **Scorch:250 – 300 = 0**

 **Scorch: LOSE**

A buzzer sounded out and a window appeared with Ryu and Ruri's faces with the word WIN below them. Then Ryu's eyes turned back to normal and he shook his head. " _Man I have got to stop doing that_ ," he thought. Ruri looked at her bracelet, it had stopped flashing then Ryu looked at Ruri and she looked back at him and they both laughed.

"Well I guess that will teach them not to mess with us from now on," he said.

"Yeah, I guess so" Ruri replied "Thanks for helping me," she said.

"No problem, it's the least I could do, actually we never got to introduce each other," he said while holding out his hand. "I'm Ryu Hankou."

Ruri shook it warmly "Ruri, Ruri Kurosaki. I take it you're going to our school then because of your uniform" she said gesturing to the clothes Ryu was wearing.

"Yeah, I am," Ryu said and then looked at his phone to see the time and saw it was 8:48 am.

"OH SHIT WERE LATE FOR SCHOOL!" he exclaimed as he ran out the alleyway praying he didn't run into any more trouble.

"Hey wait for me" Ruri called as she tailed after him but little did Ryu know that he had left the one thing he was looking for in the alleyway.

His skateboard.

 _Author made cards_

 **Tsunami**

 **Continuous Spell**

 **Effect:Each time a player summons a non-water attributed monster, inflict 500 points to the player who summoned that monster. If your opponent summons a water attribute monster destroy this card.**

 **Flare Stego: Level 4/FIRE/Dinosaur/1300 ATK/2000 DEF**

 **Flip Effect: When this card is flipped face-up inflict 800 points of damage to your opponent.**

 **Storm Prediction**

 **Normal Spell**

 **Effect: This card is always treated as a Sky spy card. You can send one Sky spy monster from your deck to the graveyard and destroy one spell or trap on your opponents side of the field. Afterwards look at the top card of your deck and reveal it, if it's a Sky spy monster you can and either add it to your hand or send it to the graveyard. If the card is not a Sky spy monster, send it to the graveyard.**

 **Sky spy - Strike Robin:Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1200 ATK/850 DEF**

 **Effect: If this card is targeted for an attack target the attacking monster, it is treated as a Sky spy monster, then inflict 800 points of damage to your opponent. That monster must attack this card**

 **If this card is destroyed by battle by a Sky spy monster or sent to the graveyard by the effect of a Sky spy card, inflict 800 points of damage to your opponent.**

 **Sky spy - Scout Owl: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1400 ATK/1200 DEF**

 **Effect: When this card is normal or special summoned activate one of these effects:**

 **Add one Sky spy monster from your deck to your hand.**

 **Send one Sky spy monster from your deck to your graveyard.**

 **Sky spy - Scope Falcon: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1400 ATK/700 DEF**

 **Effect: Once per turn you can discard one card to select one random card from your opponent's hand, they reveal it and shuffle it back into their deck. If this card is sent to the graveyard by the effect of a Sky spy card, special summon this card. You cannot activate this card's first effect if it special summoned this way.**

 **Sky Spy - Back-up Budgie: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/900 ATK/700 DEF**

 **Effect: If you control a Sky spy monster you can special summon this card from your hand. If this card is sent to the graveyard by the effect of a Sky spy card, you can draw one card from your deck.**

 **Flare Allo:Level 6/FIRE/Dinosaur/2200 ATK/1800 DEF**

 **Effect: If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters you can special summon this card from your hand and if you do inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent. This card cannot be used as an XYZ material except for the XYZ summon of a dinosaur-type monster.**

 **Dragon's Back-up**

 **normal spell**

 **Effect: Send one Dragonic monster from your hand to the graveyard and special summon one Dragonic monster from your deck that has the same level as the sent monster.**

 **Dragonic Trooper:Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/700 ATK/1500 DEF**

 **Effect: When this card is destroyed by battle or card effect you can special summon one Dragonic Trooper from your deck.**

 **Dragonic Field Expert:Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/1000 ATK/900 DEF**

 **Effect: If you control a dragon type monster except for Dragonic Field Expert, you can special summon this card from your hand.**

 **Flare Tyranno:Level 8/FIRE/Dinosaur/2800 ATK/2300 DEF**

 **Effect: This card cannot be special summoned except from your graveyard. You can tribute summon this card by tributing one fire attributed, dinosaur-type monster. If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, inflict damage to your opponent equal to half the destroyed monster's attack points.**

 **Zexrax The Sealed Dragon Lord:Level 7/DARK/Dragon/2800 ATK/2000 DEF**

 **Effect: When this card is tribute summoned this card gains 500 attack and then target one monster your opponent controls, it loses 1000 attack. If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, inflict 300 points of damage to your opponent.**

 **Well there you go the second prologue is up and I honestly thought it was going to take longer to get this up because it was a pain trying to upload this at my friends but it has seemed to work out in the end.**

 **Anyway, there's the conclusion to the duel and I'm sorry if it displeases you a bit because I had trouble coming up with the idea for Scorch and Chills' decks and chills in the end got taken out really early during the duel. But the main idea was for Scorch and Chills' decks to mirror each other so they could do combos with each other.**

 **However, I hope you enjoyed Ruri and Ryu's decks but not all the credit goes to me for Ruri's deck because the name Sky spies came from my little brother when a asked him to help me with names for cards (and believe me I am terrible with names).**

 **That's not the only thing my brother has come up with for this fan-fiction and you'll see more of his Ideas later on in the story.**

 **Now the last thing from me is thank you to all those who have reviewed and looked at this story, I didn't think they would be that positive (but that's just the stupid part of me doubting myself again like I always do) and please leave a review if you like this story so far.**

 **Anyway stay cool everyone**

 **bye!**


	3. Chapter 1

**Holy crap it's been a while since I last updated, but my life is pandemonium at the moment and I am trying to get as much free time as possible so I could start writing this again. So I apologise for taking so long to update. Now it's finally time to get the actual plot started and to introduce two of my favourite Arc-V characters and you could probably guess who they are. Anyway let's get on with it shall we?**

 **Disclaimer is on the first page.**

Chapter 1: Dragons and Zombies

The man stood and stared through the glass at the machine that had just been completed. Finally after waiting he could start his plans that he had created so many years ago.

"Professor, someone is here to see you," said a voice over the loudspeaker.

"Enter," he said loudly and the doors on the other end of the room opened. He turned to see another man wearing robes walk up to him and then kneel as if he was in a king's presence.

"The scouts have reported back sir," he said. The Professor smiled "good, and I take their mission was a success" he said pleased. The man looked up to him.

"Yes, they have located the girls from Synchro and Xyz."

"Good, you may leave and prepare the vanguard squads to be ready, in two weeks we invade Xyz," the Professor said. The man stayed knelt and this got the Professors attention.

"Is there something on your mind?" the Professor said sharply. The man took his time, gathering his thoughts and then spoke "well... its just that... the sensors that the scouts had in Xyz picked up something" he said nervously.

"Picked up what?" was the gruff reply the Professor gave. The man gave the Professor a look which told him everything.

"You don't mean?" the Professor began but was cut off by the other man.

"I'm afraid so sir," said the man afraid of being on the receiving end of the Professors wrath. The Professor thought carefully about what to say next. "Put Aerogon on the vanguard squad and tell Yuri and Dennis I would like to speak to them personally tomorrow."

"Yes sir," said the man and eagerly rushed out of the room. The Professor then turned back towards the glass, lost deep in his thoughts.

" _So it's decided to show up and still with the same subject we left it with. Z-15, you're going to be in a world of hell soon one I'm through with you._ "

* * *

Ryu sighed as he took a step towards the classroom door, today was not going as planned. First he had pissed off his sister to the point of where she would kill him when he got home although it was quite funny, next he got stuck in a duel with a couple of thugs and was late for his first day of school because of it, finally he had almost lost his favourite skateboard, thank god he went back to pick it up.

Ryu looked at the door and sighed again.

"I'm late enough already so I better not keep the teacher waiting," he said to himself and knocked on the door. For the next few seconds the was silence, then he heard a female voice say "enter" and he opened the door and walked in.

As soon as Ryu walked in the entire class stopped writing in their books and stared at him which made him feel uneasy.

"And who may you be?" boomed the voice of the teacher and Ryu turned to face a tall woman with glasses, she wore a brown blazer with a white shirt underneath and a brown frilly skirt. She eyed Ryu warily and for once Ryu was afraid.

"Well, speak!" she demanded as her voice echoed around the classroom.

"I'm...I'm t-the n-new stud-dent Ryu Hankou" Ryu stuttered nervously. The teacher looked at him and then remembered what the principal had told her about a new student.

"Oh yes I remember now," the teacher said. "The principal told me about a new student coming to my class." She then paused and continued speaking "and why are you so late?" she questioned.

"Oh, I got into a small incident with a couple of thugs with a girl called Ruri Kurosaki." This gained the interest of one particular student on the second column of desks on the back row. His hair was spiked and it swept to the right side of his head, the back was black and the front was light purple. He raised his head over the other students to see what was going on.

"She's student from another class, but both of us spoke to the principal about it and the problem is all sorted out now" Ryu finished.

The teacher pondered for a moment. "Very well then, I shall appoint someone to show you around," the teacher said as her eyes darted across the room. Finally, they settled on the boy who Ryu had noticed earlier and he was now busy drawing something in his book.

"YUTO!" exclaimed the teacher sharply and the poor boy called Yuto dropped his pencil and stood up fearfully with a worried look on his face.

"Yes miss!" he exclaimed while secretly praying he wasn't about to get a detention. Ryu sweat dropped, " _no wonder why the principals afraid of her_ ," he thought to himself.

"Today I would like you to show our new student Ryu around, do you understand?" the teacher said sternly. Yuto didn't reply he just nodded and sat down.

"Good, now Ryu go take a seat next to Yuto," she said and began to give a lecture on how Heartland city was created.

Ryu walked down the column of desks and he could feel eyes watching him. Finally, he sat down next to Yuto and Yuto bombarded him with questions about Ruri.

"How is she!? Is she alright!? She didn't get hurt did she!?" Yuto asked quickly.

"Relax, relax she's fine we defeated both Scorch and Chills the leaders of "The Pack" so there's nothing to worry about," Ryu said reassuringly.

Yuto was quite surprised at this, he and Shun could hardly put up a fight against Scorch and Chills but this kid is saying he defeated the like it was no problem. Yuto smiled thankfully, he wouldn't know what Shun would have done to him if something happened to Ruri.

"Thanks, its just that Ruri's brother Shun would kill me if something happened to her," he said.

"Like I said there's nothing to worry about so don't get your knickers in a twist" Ryu replied jokingly and they both laughed at the remark but were quickly silenced by the teacher.

Ryu looked at Yuto's book and saw a very good and detailed drawing of Simorgh Bird Of Divinity, but there wasn't just Simorgh, in Yuto's book were drawing of other monsters like Dark Crusader and Black Ray Lancer.

"Those are really good," Ryu remarked. Yuto noticed this and was happy that someone other than Shun took notice of his work.

"Thanks, my dad is quite rich so I have a lot of cards at home and one day I was bored and decided to try drawing pictures of them," Yuto stated.

"Your lucky to have so many cards," Ryu said and thought this would be a good time to make a friend.

"How about we properly introduce ourselves to each other, I'm Ryu." he said.

"My name's Yuto, its a pleasure to meet you" Yuto replied.

Little did they know that this would be the start of a long and difficult friendship.

* * *

Ryu and Yuto soon got on well with each other and found they both liked a lot of the same things (which was mainly dueling) and it was soon lunchtime. The two friends sat outside (in the same spot where Yuma and his friends ate their lunch in Zexal) and were busy eating when they were interrupted by a female voice.

"Hey, guys!"

both teens stopped eating and turned towards the voice with their mouths stuffed full of food to see it was none other than Ruri Kurosaki. Ruri began laughing at the boys as they had their mouths stuffed with food. They quickly swallowed and greeted her as she sat down. The three began to chat when a boy wearing the third year uniform who looked about 15 and had the same "bird wing" hairstyle as Ruri on the left side of his head walked quickly up to them.

"YOU!" he roared while pointing an accusing finger at Ryu. Ryu who was completely surprised at this didn't know what to say.

"Can I help you?" he finally spat out.

"I don't know whether right now to thank you or kill you," the boy said angrily.

SMACK!

Ryu and Yuto watched stunned as Ruri smacked the boy in the face. "FOR THE LAST TIME SHUN ITS NOT HIS FAULT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs which would be loud enough to be heard across Heartland. Ruri looked at Ryu who was still stunned and smiled. "Ryu this is my _charming_ brother Shun, I apologise for his rudeness," she said. Ryu didn't know what to say, he just stared at her open mouthed and Yuto was the same. As Ruri and Shun began bickering, Ryu whispered to Yuto

"Are they always like this?" and Yuto just nodded in response.

Shun sat down and began sulking so everyone apart from him began to restart up their conversation. Eventually, Shun joined in and Ryu explained to him what had happened earlier that morning.

"You must be a skilled duelist to beat both Scorch and Chills" Shun complimented after Ryu had finished explaining.

"Ah, it's no big deal," Ryu said sheepishly "but I did have help from Ruri though."

"Well I want to put those skills to the test," said Yuto and looked at Ryu. "Duel me, Ryu, I've wanted a challenge and it looks like I finally have one," Yuto said. Ryu smiled, there was no way he was backing down from this.

"Alright Yuto I accept your challenge but just to warn you I've never lost a duel," Ryu said confidently.

"So have I, and I don't plan on beginning today" replied Yuto.

* * *

The clock showed 2:28 and Ryu couldn't wait to duel Yuto, he would show him just how he beat Scorch and Chills. 2:29 almost there.

DING!

2:30! Ryu shot out of his desk and out the classroom at lightning speed eager to duel. He soon arrived at the centre court and was greeted by a familiar face. "Hey Ryu you ready?" asked Yuto.

"You bet," Ryu said eagerly and then looked around puzzled. "Where are the others?" he asked. Yuto pointed over towards the court and Ryu saw a duel taking place. He then put on his D-gazer and ran over to see who was winning. It was Shun and he was dueling a boy about the same age as him. He had blue eyes and blonde hair.

 **Shun: 2300**

 **VS**

 **Makoto: 2000**

 **Makoto's field:**

 **Evolzar Laggia: Rank 4/FIRE/Dragon/XYZ/3200 ATK (originally 2400)/2000 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS 0**

 **United We Stand**

 **equip spell (equipped to Evolzar Laggia)**

 **Shun's field:**

 **Phantom Gryphon: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/2000 ATK/0 DEF (x2)**

"Now I use both my Phantom Gryphon's to construct to overlay network!" exclaimed Shun as both his monsters turned green and shot up in the air as streams of energy. The Galaxy XYZ portal opened up and both monsters flew in and lightning shot out of the portal.

"Defender of the castle, descend from a spiralling storm and blast away the opposition, XYZ summon! Come forth rank 4, Castel, The Skyblaster Musketeer!" Shun exclaimed.

 **Castel, The Skyblaster Musketeer: Rank 4/WIND/Winged Beast/XYZ/2000 ATK/1500 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS 2**

Makoto laughed, "how's that gonna help you," he said cockily. Shun smirked, it was always funnier when his opponents had no clue. "I activate Castel's effect! By using two overlay units he can return Laggia to the deck!"

"It can what!?" exclaimed Makoto as Castel absorbed the two floating, green spheres into its chest and began to flap its wings. A gust of wind soon blew across the field and slammed into Laggia. Laggia let out a loud growling noise as it retreated back to card form. "Now Castel! Attack him directly! TWIN BARREL BLASTER!" yelled Shun. Castel then raised its gun and fired twin beams of yellow energy at Makoto.

 **Makoto:2000 – 2000 = 0**

 **Makoto: LOSE**

A buzzer sounded out and a window appeared with Shun's face in it saying win underneath. Shun took off his D-gazer and heard the sound of clapping. He then turned to see it was Yuto clapping. "A flawless victory as always," Yuto said while walking up.

Shun chuckled "a flawless victory indeed," he said and then noticed Ryu. "Hey are you two gonna duel or stand there?" he asked.

Yuto and Ryu looked at each other and walked a distance away from each other, then both of them activated their duel disks. Ryu's was a silver one while Yuto's was as black as the night. They placed their D-gazers on their heads and they knew the other one was ready.

 **AR VISION LINK ESTABLISHED**

 **DUEL!**

 **Ryu:4000**

 **VS**

 **Yuto:4000**

"I'll go first if you don't mind," said Yuto.

 **TURN:1 Yuto hand:5**

He looked at his hand carefully and picked out two cards. "I activate two copy's of Upstart Goblin!" he said slamming the cards on his duel disk. "With this you gain 1000 lifepoints and I get to draw a card," he said drawing cards.

 **Ryu:4000 + 2000 = 6000**

"You're giving me lifepoints?" Ryu asked stupidly.

"Yes I am but you'll soon see why, though," Yuto said. "I set one monster face down and one card face down, turn end!" Yuto said as the card appeared on the field.

 **Yuto hand:4**

Shun was watching when he heard footsteps behind him. "Their already Duelling?" an annoyed voice said and Shun turned around to see it was Ruri.

"Don't worry they've just started" he said and returned to resume watching the duel.

Ryu sweat dropped, " _seriously does everyone start their first turn by setting everything_ ," he thought but then shrugged it off."My turn, Draw!" Ryu yelled beginning his first turn of the duel.

 **TURN:2 Ryu hand:6**

Ryu looked at what he drew and fell over. " _That evil bitch, is she trying to make me lose?_ " Ryu thought as he looked the Relinkuriboh card he drew, his sisters weakest card in her deck. " _I'm going to kill Asuka when I get home_ ," he thought. A voice snapped Ryu out of his thoughts. "Are you alright?" Yuto asked.

"I'm fine" Ryu grunted taking a card from his hand and placing it on his duel disk. "I summon Twin-Sword Marauder in attack mode!" The monster that appeared was a swordsman covered in a brown armour and wore swords on its arms.

 **Twin-Sword Marauder:Level 4/DARK/Warrior/1600 ATK/1200 DEF**

"Now Battle phase, Marauder attack his monster!" The strange swordsman jumped up in the air and struck the face down monster which was revealed to be a large turtle with a pyramid on its back.

 **Pyramid Turtle:Level 4/EARTH/Zombie/ATK 1200/DEF 1400**

"Marauder inflicts piercing damage and if it attacked a defence monster it can attack again!" explained Ryu while Yuto staggered against the force of the attack.

 **Yuto: 4000 – 200 = 3800**

"Now Marauder, attack him directly!" exclaimed Ryu and the swordsman charged full speed towards Yuto, but stopped dead in its tracks as the ground cracked open and a large Minotaur carrying an axe rose out of the ground and let out a loud roar.

 **Mezuki:Level 4/EARTH/Zombie/1700 ATK/ 800 DEF**

"How in the world did you summon that?" asked Ryu. "Simple," said Yuto "when Pyramid Turtle is destroyed I get to special summon one zombie type monster with 2000 or less DEF from my deck" explained Yuto.

"Not bad, he now has a monster that can go toe to toe with Twin-Sword Marauder" complimented Ruri.

"Well, that is just like Yuto to do that. He always thinks before he acts" noted Shun.

"I can tell you one thing, that monster takes ugly to a whole new level. I end my turn with one card face down" said Ryu as the set card appeared on his field.

 **Ryu hand:4**

"My turn, draw!" Yuto said

 **TURN:3 Yuto hand:5**

Yuto looked at his hand and grinned like a madman. "YES! It's here!" Everyone looked at him, confused at his statement.

"What's got him so happy?" asked Ruri.

"I know," said Shun staring at Yuto. " _So he's going to use that stratergy. Heh, he better do it right without it blowing back in his face as always_ "

"I tribute Mizuki in order to summon the king of the zombies! Make way for the mummified ruler, Endless Decay!" roared Yuto as he slammed the card on his duel disk. Mizuki transformed into a ball of light and it then began glowing brightly. The light soon faded away to reveal a mummified mummy with Egyptian jewellery on it. Its hands were not visible as they were completely enveloped by bandages and it let out a low growl.

 **Endless Decay:Level 5/DARK/Zombie/? ATK/0 DEF**

"Unknown attack points?" asked Ryu a little dumbfounded at Yuto's move. "That was foolish. Why would he summon that?" asked Ruri in which Shun only responded to her by smiling. Yuto meanwhile was still grinning happily at what he did. "This is what those extra lifepoints are for. Endless Decay gains attack points equal to half my opponents lifepoints when summoned." True to Yuto's word a red glow appeared around Endless Decay making it increase in size until it was as big as a two storey house.

 **Endless Decay ATK: ? + 3000 = 3000**

"3000 attack Points!" Exclaimed Ruri shocked at how Yuto could summon a monster that strong. Shun Just gave her a _n I_ _told you so_ face. Ruri frowned at him and returned to watch the duel. Meanwhile, Ryu was trying to figure out how to get over the hulking mummy and he then remembered his face down, if Yuto attack it would be all over for him.

"Battle Phase! Endless Decay attack his Marauder! PHARAOHS WRATH!" The bandages on the mummy's hands began to unwrap and flew towards Marauder but Marauder was ready to counter attack. "Trap Open! **Dragons Soul Battle**! With this, the attack of my monster is double its original attack as long as I discard one card. Ryu said quickly discarding his Relinkuriboh.

 **Twin-Sword Marauder ATK: 1600 x 2 = 3200**

Marauder's swords began to glow and then he began slicing the bandages apart but more kept coming.

"I activate Forbidden Lance!" retaliated Yuto and activated the card. A blue aura then glowed around Marauder as his movements began to get slower and slower.

 **Twin-Sword Marauder ATK: 3200 – 800 = 2400 – 1600 = 800**

"no

w, not only does Forbidden Lance decrease a monsters attack by 800 but that monster is unaffected by spells and traps for the rest of the turn" Yuto said as Marauder was helplessly trying to stop the bandages but was soon powerless to stop them. The bandages wrapped around him and then there were a sickening CRUNCH and Marauder was nothing more than gold particles in the air.

 **Ryu: 6000 – 2200 = 3800**

"Incredible! I didn't know Yuto has improved so much" Ruri gasped.

Shun looked at her "we've been training every day after school at the Champions Duel School for the past few months" he stated. Ruri's face fell as she recalled her duel against Scorch and Chills, how she barely did anything to help. Sure she had done a bit but it was Ryu who defeated both of them single-handedly. " _I want to become stronger too_ ," she thought to herself.

"I set one card face down and end my turn," said Yuto as he ended his turn.

 **Yuto Hand:3**

Ryu then looked at Yuto and his eyes turned silver again. " _Crap! Not again_ " he thought and he began breathing heavily.

" _Come on, don't you want to beat him, after all, you were made in order to win_ ," a demonic voice said in his head. "I'm in the drivers seat of this duel, not you!" Ryu snapped angrily and then turned towards Yuto. Yuto was looking at him confused at what had happened. "Dude, you alright?" Yuto asked, however, Ryu ignored Yuto and began his turn

My turn, I draw!" Ryu exclaimed.

 **TURN:4 Ryu Hand:5**

"I play Pot Of Greed to draw two cards. Next, since I control no monsters I can summon this guy, come on out **Dragonic Swordsman**!" Ryu called. This next monster that appeared was like all the other dragonic monsters with the same armour and crest but this one had green scales and held two samurai swords.

 **Dragonic Swordsman:Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/1400 ATK/1000 DEF**

"Now since I have a Dragonic monster on my field I can special summon **Dragonic Chain Swordsman**!" The new monster that appeared was a smaller version of Dragonic Swordsman. In its hands, it held a long sword that was attached to a chain.

 **Dragonic Chain Swordsman:Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/900 ATK/1200 DEF**

"And since it was special summoned your rotting corpse loses 500 attack points!" Ryu yelled. As soon as those words left his mouth, the small dragon swung it's chain around and threw it towards Endless Decay. The mummy groaned as the chain wrapped around it causing it to power down.

 **Endless Decay ATK: 3000** – **500 = 2500**

"Big deal" scoffed Yuto. "It only lost 500 attack points, it's not going to make a difference," he said. Ryu smirked and revealed the next card in his hand which Ruri instantly recognised. "I haven't normal summoned yet so I tribute me to monsters in order to summon **Zexrax The Sealed Dragon Lord**!" Ryu yelled. Like before the two monsters turned into spheres of light and merged together and exploded in a flash of light. The familiar blue gemmed dragon then emerged out of the light with its head lowered. It then raised it's head to face its opposition and let out a blood-curdling cry before getting ready in a battle stance.

 **Zexrax The Sealed Dragon Lord:Level 7/DARK/Dragon/2800 ATK/2000 DEF**

"What is that!?" exclaimed Shun as he stared at the behemoth and then looked at its strange arm.

"That's the monster that he used to beat Scorch and Chills," said Ruri grabbing Shun's attention.

"Ready Zexrax?" asked Ryu and the mighty dragon roared in answer. "Good, now I activate Zexrax's ability! When it's summoned your corpse loses 1000 attack points and my dragon gains 500! NEGITIVE DISCHARGER!"

 **Zexrax ATK: 2800 + 500 = 3300**

 **Endless Decay ATK: 2500 – 1000 = 1500**

"Impossible!" Howled Yuto as he watched his strongest monster go from ferocious as a lion to as harmless as a kitten.

"Battle phase! Zexrax attack Endless Decay! DARKSPEAR SLASH!" Ryu yelled and his dragon jumped forward extending the blade on Dragunity Darkspears head, then slicing Endless Decay clean in half. Afterwards, Zexrax shot a blue energy out of its chest gem and towards Yuto.

 **Yuto: 3800 – 1800 - 300 = 1500**

"How come I took extra damage?" asked Yuto.

"When Zexrax destroys an opponent's monster the controller takes 300 points of damage" explained Ryu.

Yuto then knew there was only one way to recover from this and he hated to do it but Ryu had pushed him one step too far. "I set two cards and end my turn," Ryu said triumphantly while Shun stared at him gob smacked.

"I told you he was good," said Ruri but Shun ignored her focusing only on how Ryu had changed the fate of the duel so easily.

 **Ryu hand:1**

Ryu's eyes then turned back to normal and for once he didn't feel any after effects.

"I draw," Yuto said while drawing his card slowly.

 **TURN:5 Yuto hand:4**

"I have to admit your good, even better than Damien maybe, but this is where it ends," he said confidently. "I activate the effect of Mizuki from the graveyard so by banishing him I can bring back one of my zombies!" The graveyard portal opened up and out of it slowly crawled Pyramid Turtle.

 **Pyramid Turtle:Level 4/EARTH/Zombie/ATK 1200/DEF 1400**

"Now I summon goblin zombie in attack mode!" Yuto called and a skeletal looking goblin holding a cutlass then appeared. It let out a loud growl which made Ryu shudder.

 **Goblin Zombie:Level 4/DARK/Zombie/1100 ATK/1050 DEF**

"He's not going to do it?" said Ruri worried.

"I think so" Shun simply replied knowing how much trouble Ryu was in.

"I pair of level fours, I get it now," Ryu said then realising what was about to happen.

"I overlay Goblin Zombie and Pyramid Turtle!" Yelled Yuto as Goblin Zombie turned purple and Pyramid Turtle turned orange. The galaxy Xyz portal opened up and the two monsters flew in it. "Dark dragon" Yuto began chanting as a tail with two blades rose out the portal, "strike down the opposition with your rebellious fangs!" Two huge mechanical-like wings followed "Descend now!" an armoured body of a black dragon rose out the portal and it let out a small screech. "Xyz summon! Appear, rank four Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" The head finally appeared out the portal. The dragon had yellow eyes accompanied by a mouth with huge fangs and the chin appeared to have the blade of a sword on it. The dragon let out an ear piercing screech before it calmed down and let the darkness radiate off its body.

 **Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon:Rank 4/DARK/Dragon/Xyz/2500 ATK/2000 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS 2**

"What the hell is that!?" asked Ryu, his confidence disappearing.

"This is my ace as that dragon you have is yours," Yuto said. "Now I activate Dark Rebellions effect! I use one overlay unit to halve your monsters attack and then add it on to Rebellions attack! TREASON DISCHARGE!"

Dark rebellion absorbed one of its overlay units and then the mechanical parts of its wings opened up and shot purple electricity at Zexrax causing the monster to fall to its knees and cry out in pain.

 **Zexrax ATK: 3300 – ½ = 1650**

 **Dark Rebellion ATK: 2500 + 1650 = 4150**

"It's got over 4000 attack points!" exclaimed Ryu in shock.

"I'm not done yet! I activate Dark Rebellions effect again! TREASON DISCHARGE!"

 **Zexrax ATK: 1650 – ½ = 825**

 **Dark Rebellion ATK: 4150 + 825 = 4975**

"Battle Phase! Dark Rebellion xyz Dragon attack Zexrax! REBELLIOUS LIGHTNING, DISOBEY!" called Yuto and the purple orbs Dark Rebellion wings glowed and a blueenergy radiated off the back of its wings. Dark Rebellion then flew towards the weakened dragon and the blade on its chin then glowed a bright blue. Zexrax only had time to look up before Dark Rebellion swung it's head up and the blade pierced through Zexrax's chest but the Yuto's shock Zexrax fought off the attack. "What gives?" Yuto asked frantically, surprised at the dragon surviving.

"Simple, I used the effect of Relinkuriboh from my graveyard! By banishing it my monster wasn't destroyed but I still take the damage, but I got that covered as well as I activate Nutrient Z!"

 **Ryu: 3800 + 4000 – 4150 = 3650**

"Very well then, I shall end my turn and Dark Rebellions effect ends" stated Yuto as the lighting around Zexrax dispersed.

 **Zexrax ATK: 3300 (Back to normal)**

 **Dark Rebellions ATK: 2500 (Back to normal)**

"My turn, draw!" Ryu said.

 **TURN:6 Ryu hand:2**

"I summon **Gauntlet Dragon**!" Ryu shouted and the yellow scaled, gauntlet wearing dragon soon appeared on the battlefield and slammed its two gauntlets together and let out a loud roar.

 **Gauntlet Dragon: Level 4/LIGHT/Dragon/1500 ATK/ 1000 DEF**

"Zexrax attack Dark Rebellion! DARKSPEAR SLASH!" Zexrax then began slashing wildly at Yuto's ace until it was nothing but a pile of limbs which turned into dust. "And don't forget Zexrax's ability, so since it destroyed your monster you take 300 points of damage!"

 **Yuto: 1500 – 700 – 300 = 400**

"Now my dragon FINISH HIM!" The dragon wasted no time following his master's commands and pouncing on Yuto, but he had a back-up plan.

"I activate the trap Call Of The Haunted to bring back Dark Rebellion!" Yuto yelled desperately as the trap revealed itself, but Ryu was ready for it.

"I play Mystical Space Typhoon and Destroy Call Of The Haunted!" Ryu called as a tornado blew across the field and Destroyed the trap and Yuto's only chance for a comeback. "NO!" Yuto yelled as his final card was destroyed and the dragon attacked him, ending the game.

 **Yuto: 400 – 1500 = 0**

 **Yuto: LOSE**

A buzzer sounded out and an image of Ryu appeared with win underneath. "Man that was some duel, you actually forced me to summon dark rebellion" Yuto commented.

"Thanks, although I would have lost if it wasn't for my sister's card," Ryu said, he then took out his sisters Relinkuriboh from his deck and looked at it.

" _You actually helped me for once sis. Guess your not a total windbag after all."_

"I think we deserve an explanation," said a voice which snapped Ryu out of his thoughts. He looked over to see it had come from Shun.

"Yeah, my bracelet was flashing like crazy during the entire duel, and what was up with your eyes," said Ruri. Ryu then sighed, it was time to come clean.

"Well for as long as I can remember every time before or during a duel my eyes turn silver and afterwards I can't remember anything. I don't know why it happens but it just does" explained Ryu and then hung his head. "I guess you think I'm some kind of freak now like the other dozen kids I've tried to befriend in the past," he said sadly.

"Well, you should have seen some of the crazy shit that happened here a few years ago." Yuto said brightening the mood. "to us, seeing your eyes like that would be kind of normal here" he chuckled. " And besides its cool that they can do that." Ryu looked at Yuto and beamed brightly, He had finally found people who wouldn't treat him like a freak just like those kids from the past schools he'd been to. He final felt welcome into the world.

"Thank you guys, it really means a lot to me." Ryu said happily.

"Hey it's no big deal, besides we're glad to get another friend as there's only the three of us," said Shun and then looked at his watch. "Alright let's go Ruri," Shun said to her and the two siblings began to walk off. Ruri then stopped in the middle of her tracks and spun round towards the boys.

"Oh! Yuto, tell Ryu about this weekend" she said quickly.

"Oh yeah, the Circuit Championship Tournament finals are on this weekend and my dad's getting us tickets, so if you want to come then feel free to." Yuto said and Ryu's eyes lit up.

"I would love to come," said Ryu excitedly.

"Perfect, I'll ask my dad to get another ticket," said Yuto.

"Ok then we'll see you guys later," said Shun and began walking off into the distance with Ruri. Ryu and Yuto decided to walk home together and began talking about how epic the Circuit Finals were going to be.

* * *

Far off in an alleyway where no one was around, a portal opened up and a figure wearing a hooded cloak stepped out.

"Its time," he said as he looked up at Heartland Tower.

 _Author made cards_

 **Dragon Soul Battle**

 **Trap**

 _Effect: Activate only when an opponents monster declares an attack on a monster you control; discard one card and your monster's attack points become double it's original attack points. The monster affected by this effect is destroyed at the end of the battle phase._

 **Dragonic Swordsman:Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/1400 ATK/1000 DEF**

 _Effect: If you control no monsters you can special summon this card from your hand. You cannot special summon monsters for the rest of the turn except dragon type monsters._

 **Dragonic Chain Swordsman:Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/900 ATK/1200 DEF**

 _Effect: This card cannot be normal summoned or set. If you control a Dragonic monster you can special summon this card from your hand. When this card is summoned target one monster your opponent controls; it loses 500 attack points._

 **Zexrax The Sealed Dragon Lord:Level 7/DARK/Dragon/2800 ATK/2000 DEF**

 _Effect: When this card is tribute summoned this card gains 500 attacks and then target one monster your opponent controls; it loses 1000 attack. If this card destroys an opponents monster by battle then inflict 300 points of damage to your opponent._

* * *

 **God I finally finished this chapter and this duel did not help. I had a really hard time trying to think up of the duel since I didn't want Yuto to use his anime deck** _ **yet.**_ **But thankfully I'm trying to get more free time so I can work on this story. I am glad that people are liking this story and if you liked this chapter then leave a review why and I'll see you in the next update**

 **Bye!**


	4. Chapter 2

**Merry Christmas everyone and a happy new year too! I thought I would upload this next chapter at Christmas for all of you to enjoy. Enough from me now time to get on with the story.**

 **Disclaimer is on the first page and cards made by other authors will be underlined when they appear.**

Chapter 2: Children and Champions

The halls of Academia were large and grand, filled with a beautiful range of vibrant colours. It was as if you had stepped into a fairy tale and you were in the prince's castle. More importantly, these halls had been home to some of the greatest duelling champions in history. Champions such as Jaden Yuki, Chazz Princeton and the Truesdale siblings. Even Aster Phoenix had come to the school for about a year or so.

Now the halls of Academia were quiet and empty, devoid of life. Only a small boy with light cyan hair tied up and spiked out walked down the grand hallway. Sora reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out an orange lollipop and proceeded to unwrap it. To him, these halls were his home, after all, he had nowhere to go after he left his real home. Such a tragic story it was. After being abused by the witch he had for a mother he one day grabbed his deck, duel disk and left home.

Then that fateful day happened and he snuck on the boat to Academia and was caught. That was the end of him he had thought and he would go back to the witch. But then! His hero appeared, Dr Crowler, the infamous professor of Academia who had lost to the champion Jaden Yuki on his first day. He was given a test; to defeat one of the professors of Academia and if he won he would be accepted into Academia as a student. Did he win? No. Unfortunately, after performing fusion after fusion he couldn't cope with the teacher's skills. Even his strongest monster **Frightfur Firework Dragon** stood no chance against the mighty Ancient Gear Golems.

However his skills had been noted and he was accepted into Academia and became one of the finest soldiers they could have. Sora smiled at the memories and yawned loudly. He and his fellow soldiers in his unit had just finished a 2-week survival course, being dumped on a deserted island with very small rations to share, and trying to survive without being defeated. Out of 150 soldiers, 27 had survived the entire course. The other 123 had lost their duels and were sent back to Academia for more training while the winners would be awarded. Sora had been one of those winners and one of the ones with the most victories.

As he made his way along the building he heard a voice. No, it was three voices, two male and one female, and it seemed the female was very annoyed.

"Why don't they give us a map of this place? This is so stupid!" She said as the other voices were trying to calm her down.

"Katsumi just stay calm," said a voice.

"Calm!? Calm!?" Shrieked Katsumi "How can I be calm when we've been walking in circles!?"

"Let's just ask someone" interrupted another voice before Katsumi could begin ranting anymore. This, however, was a bad idea.

"Ask who! There's no one here! Who the hell are we supposed to ask?" She screeched at the top of her lungs. Sora thought now would be a good time to help these poor lost souls.

As walked around the corner the finally got to get a good look at them. They appeared to each be between 16 to 19 years old. The girl, Katsumi, had long black hair and crystal blue eyes. She wore a black Skirt and a sleeveless purple top and a sleeveless black jacket Sora thought he recognised. The Australian had black hair which was spiked and green eyes (or rather an eye as his right eye was bandaged). He wore a cream shirt with a black cargo vest with multiple pockets. He had black trousers and the most notable thing about him was the cowboy hat he wore. The other boy wore white sneakers and blue jeans. He wore a white shirt and an Academia style Obelisk Blue vest. His hair was blue and was neatly combed over to his left.

"Hi there. My name is Sora Shiunin and if you're lost then I can help you out" Sora said kindly.

"Finally, we get some help!" Katsumi said annoyed. "My name is Katsumi but sometimes people call me Kat instead, but I don't care which one you call me," she said as she stuck out her hand for a handshake. Sora shook her hand firmly and turned to the two men.

"Thanks for offering to help us. The name's Bruce" the man with the cowboy hat said.

"Yeah, Thanks for helping. My name's Kenta" Said the other man.

"Your welcome," Sora said and then turned towards Katsumi. "You know, now that I think about it, I recognise your jacket for some reason."

"Oh, you must recognise it because it was my dad's. I forgot to tell you my last name. My last name is Princeton" Katsumi said.

It took a while for Sora's brain to process this new information but soon he realised what it meant.

"Your dad is the pro duelist Chazz Princeton!?" he exclaimed in shock.

"That's right. And Bruce's dad is none other than the Oceanic champion Jim Cook" said Katsumi. Sora couldn't believe his luck. He was talking to two of the world's most famous dueling champions.

"Please let me have your autographs. Pleaseeeeeeeee!" Sora begged,

"Gee, I don't know" Katsumi and then looked at Sora.

* * *

Sora soon walked happily down the hallway holding two autographs in his hand while Katsumi, Bruce and Kenta trudged slowly after him.

"Okay, the Professor's quarters are just through these doors," Sora said happily as he pointed to two large, medieval style doors.

"Thanks again for the autographs," Sora said before giving the three duelists a quick smile before walking away.

"Your welcome!" called Katsumi before getting a thumbs up from Sora. The three duelists looked at the doors large doors before walking in. They soon found themselves looking at the Professor and a boy with purple hair that they instantly recognised as Yuri, and another boy with orange hair they didn't know.

"About time. You know it is quite rude to-" began the orange haired boy as he walked up to them, but was soon shut up by the glare that Katsumi gave as he gave a small yelp and stepped backwards.

"So Prof, why'd you call us in?" Asked Kenta in a laid back tone before taking a sip from his soft drink he had just opened up.

"I called you to discuss the matter of Z-15. It's been located."

Everyone stared at the Professor with surprise and Kenta did a spit take of his drink and spat it all over Katsumi.

"YOU IDIOT!" she raged and slapped him hard enough to propel him across the room.

Yuri sweat dropped as he stared at the three duelists.

" _And these are supposed to be some of the greatest duelists in the world? How ill-mannered"_

"Ahem, back to the topic at hand," said the Professor and Katsumi looked at him and stopped trying to hit Kenta over the head with a bucket she got from who knows where and began to pay attention.

"Sorry about that," Katsumi said as she threw the bucket away and brushed her flowing black hair out of her face and looked at the Professor.

"Sometimes my anger can just get the better of me when you're stupid enough to piss me off." Kenta looked up at her, realising who she was referring to.

"Hey! I am not stupid!" Kenta yelled and began arguing with Katsumi before Bruce butted both their heads together.

"Shut up and listen," Bruce said strictly and both duelists listened obediently like a pair of dogs.

"Now as I was saying, Z-15 has been located and your job is to take to take him out," the Professor said.

Katsumi stared at the Professor confused.

"Hold the phone. I thought only the Supreme King had enough power to take it on?" she asked, wondering how a mere mortal could defeat something of that power.

"That was true, but Z-15 has been in a slumber state since its last 'incident' here," the Professor said, angrily remembering what Z-15 had done to Academia all those years ago. He clenched his fists. He could not let it be free again because all his planning he had done for years would go to waste. Containing it was absolutely necessary.

"Practically anyone could defeat it which is the reason why I have chosen you three. You are some of the strongest duelists from this world and think of the glory you would attain by defeating a god" the Professor said and Katsumi looked at him.

"Defeating it is just like defeating a god?" she asked as realisation dawned on her. Yes! That was it! Katsumi Princeton, the destroyer of gods. She liked that very much. Yes! No one would stand in her way and she would become a true champion in no time.

"Count us in!" She said. Kenta stared at her, shocked.

"You can be serious?! Don't you know what we're up against Kat?!" he shouted. Katsumi turned towards him.

"Oh come on! Where's your sense of adventure, we're fighting a god! A god for Christ sake!"

"I'm in," Bruce said quietly.

"Not you too! Alright fine, I'm in as well" Kenta gave in as he knew if you couldn't beat them, join them.

"Excellent. After the first wave, you will be sent out" The Professor said gladly as they were finally agreeing to hi plans. He then turned to Yuri.

"Yuri you will be given a new deck in order help you fight against Z-15 if you ever happen to encounter it while on your mission," the Professor said. A lady dressed in grey them walked into the room holding a tray in which a deck rested on top of it. The woman stopped in front of Yuri silently and Yuri took the deck off the tray. The woman then turned swiftly and walked off without a word. Yuri then examined the deck, flipping through each card one by one and his eyes widening at certain cards. And once he reached the extra deck he couldn't believe his eyes. The fusions were incredible. No one would stand in his way with this new deck.

"Thank you, sir, I appreciate the deck," Yuri said. The Professor smiled at his favourite student.

"You shall be put to practice with that deck immediately," he said and then turned to Dennis.

"Dennis I am sure you know the contents of your mission, but I would like you to go over it one more time with your commander to be sure"

"Yes, of course, sir," Dennis said giving the Professor a salute and then exited the room with everyone else. After finally being left alone the Professor turned around to look through the glass panel at the mighty machine that stood before him.

" _Soon. So very soon"_

* * *

When Ryu opened his eyes he was in a dark foggy area slowly drifting down through the fog.

" _Where am I? How did get here?"_

Ryu them stopped drifting and began falling. He looked down to see he was falling down towards a sea of darkness and screamed as he shut his eyes and braced for impact. When Ryu opened his eyes again, he found he was laying on the darkness it was soft and spongy, almost like jelly.

" _Hello is anyone there?"_

Ryu then got up and then looked around quickly. He soon began to feel scared as he felt like he was being watched.

" _Please! Is anyone there?"_

Ryu could hear footsteps running around him in the fog and his eyes darted around to check if only his ears were playing tricks on him.

" _Cut it out whoever you are!"_

That's when he heard the scream. That sickening bloodcurdling scream that sends chills down your spine.

" _What the hell was that?"_

Then Ryu saw it. The silhouette of a girl about his age with a blue aura around her. Ryu stepped forward but soon stopped as the aura began to manifest and change. It became the shape of a large serpentine dragon which let out a loud roar, knocking Ryu of his feet.

" _Ahhhhhh!"_

Ryu hit the jelly-like substance with a loud thud and soon got up to see that girl and dragon thing had gone. Then he looked at the jelly-like substance and it began bubbling and turned blood red.

" _What the fuck?"_

A large hand made out of the substance shot out of it grabbed Ryu and lifted him into the air.

" _Let me go!"_

" _Not until you give me what I want brat!"_

 _"Well, what do you want?"_

 _"Well, I think you should know that! You had the perfect chance to take it and you didn't!"_

" _Look, for god's sake, I know we don't like each other but that doesn't mean we have to kill each other."_

" _Just get it for me!"_

" _WELL TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT AND I'LL GET IT FOR YOU!"_

" _FINE! I want-"_

Ryu then woke up screaming his lungs out. He gripped his heart and could feel that it was beating very fast.

" _Great! He wasted his time again!"_ Ryu thought annoyed. Seriously, couldn't the thing leave him alone? The door was then abruptly flung off its hinges by none other than Asuka with her baseball bat in hand. Ryu stared at her face and blond hair that was a mess.

"Are you okay!? What happened!? What happened!? What happened!?" She asked quickly. Ryu laughed.

"I'm fine sis, just a bad dream," he said. Asuka let out a huge sigh.

"I stopped doing my makeup for this? I thought someone was trying to kill you" she said frustrated. Ryu chuckled. "Sorry Asuka, won't happen again."

"Good. Now get washed and ready cause Yuto will be around soon to come and get you" She said.

Then a loud alarm could be heard from downstairs and Asuka's eyes widened.

"Oh no the breakfast!" she exclaimed as she dashed down the stairs, realising she had set off the fire alarm. Ryu couldn't contain the laughter inside of him and kept laughing until he walked into the bathroom. The first thing Ryu noticed in the mirror was the silver eyes and he began concentrating, then, bam! His eyes went back to his mother's beautiful red eyes that he had gotten from her side of the family. He was getting better at controlling the silver eyes every day now.

After taking a long overdue shower, Ryu walked back into his room and saw the piles of paper and cards by his computer screen. Now he remembered. He had been up almost all night talking to Yuto and Shun about duelling strategies and the new ban list which would be set in the next few days. Like the few nights before, he and Yuto had slowly been upgrading Ryu's deck to be more consistent and he soon found himself applying at the CDS (Champion's Duel School) which Shun and Yuto attended.

Ryu had also found out that Yuto's father was a world famous card designer and that was how he owned so many cards, some of which now belonged to Ryu. Recently Yuto's father had been happily making a new Dragonic XYZ monster for Ryu which he was thrilled by, and apparently it had been printed this morning.

Ryu was soon dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a white top and a red and white cardigan. He was now was sitting at the table with a plate of burnt toast in front of him.

"What is this?" he asked disappointedly.

"Eat it, it's the best you're getting from me" Asuka replied rudely before walking over to the door which someone had just knocked on. She opened it to find Yuto on the other side dressed in a green shirt with a black tie and black trousers.

"Yuto, come in," Asuka said kindly and Yuto walked in carrying a small white bag.

"Oi! Ryu catch!" he yelled as he threw a small bag to Ryu who was busily gnawing on a piece of burnt toast. Ryu caught the bag and opened it, revealing a bacon and egg English muffin.

"Thanks, Yuto!" Ryu called and smiled deviously at Asuka.

"This is a lot better than the crap Asuka comes up with," he said cheekily and both boys laughed. Asuka now had a large tic mark on her forehead and was surrounded by a flaming aura, while holding her baseball bat.

"You disrespectful little brats! I'LL KILL THE BOTH OF YOU!" she screamed while charging at the two boys.

"Look out Yuto! It's Godzilla!" Ryu called to his friend, making Asuka angrier in the process. The two made a dash for the door and slammed it in Asuka's face. She then slumped to the floor.

" _Why do I have to live with him?"_ she thought as she got up and walked to the kitchen side to grab her phone. She then dialled a number.

"Hello? Dad? Hi! Listen, I just wanted to talk about Ryu for a second…..well the thing is he's began having nightmares."

* * *

Ryu and Yuto were soon joined by Shun as they walked towards the park. "Remind me why we have to wait here for Ruri," Yuto said.

"Ruri said she had a surprise for us, so we have to wait here" Shun replied and soon heard the chatter of voices and looked over to where the voices were coming from and was staring into the eyes of the feminine figure walking towards them. Ryu and Yuto were soon staring at her as well and Yuto was blushing slightly. Ruri was wearing a tan coloured dress that flowed elegantly in the wind but the most notable thing about her was her hair and how much it had changed. It was now a purplish black that extended past her lower back and was tied up in a bow-shape style and two side tails. She still had the trademark "Kurosaki bird wing hairstyle" on the left side of her hair.

Ruri walked up to the three boys unaware that she had become the centre of every boy's attention in the park, much to Shun's annoyance. "Ruri, what are you wearing? And what happened to your hair?" asked Yuto who was still blushing.

"Well after Ryu and Yuto's duel a few days ago I decided I wanted to get stronger and I decided to start by changing my appearance, besides I'm sick of green anyway," she said. Ruri then reached into her brown bag she was wearing and pulled out 4 red scarves. She then handed one each to Ryu, Yuto and Shun. "What are these for?" asked Shun whilst staring at the object with interest.

"I got these for us as a symbol of our friendship, something we can remember each other by" Ruri replied. The three boys stuffed the scarves into their pockets and thanked Ruri for the gift. "Come on for we'll miss the finals" moaned Ryu as he tried to drag Shun and Yuto in the direction of the stadium. "Ryu, if you don't let go of me this instant I will break you in two" warned Shun.

* * *

The fearless four were soon walking down the street, towards the giant stadium that was in front of them.

They then heard the squealing of girls and turned around to see people snapping photos of the purple-haired man, who was on the motorcycle that was speeding along the street. "What was that all about?" Asked Yuto.

"That was the champion that just want past us!" Squealed Ruri excitedly.

"Well we better get into the stadium before the match begins!" exclaimed Ryu.

"But I wanted a photo of him" moaned Ruri sadly.

"No time for that, we're gonna miss the match," Ryu said and the four then took off running down the street.

* * *

The four young duelists were soon sitting in their designated seats and they were near the front so they would get to see most of the action up close.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls and all those watching at home! Prepare yourselves as the Circuit Finals are about to begin!" yelled the MC and the crowd roared in approval.

"Now then! Our challenger is a young duelling prodigy who is an exchange student from the heartland academy! Please welcome Damien Rouge!" The crowd then roared as a 15-year-old boy with brown skin, brown hair and blue eyes walked up to the platform. He wore a blue sleeveless top and brown cargo trousers and looked ready to duel.

"Aaaaaaaaannnnnnd now! The moment you've all been waiting for! Ladies and gentlemen the reigning champion of the pro circuit! The king of chaos! The prince of the sea!

Ryoga Kamishiro!"

As soon as this name left the MC's mouth the crowd's roar grew even louder as they began to chant the word "shark" over and over. Then the purple haired champion rose out of the ground on a metal plate and faced Damien. 18-year-old Ryoga or "Shark" as he went by, had changed little over the years. His hair was still the same, only a bit longer and. He now wore a purple down sweater jacket that had two green gems on the shoulders. His shoes were the still the same and the Barian emblem was proudly hung around his neck. "Ready Shark?" asked Damien confidently. Shark didn't reply, he just activated his duel disk and D-gazer lazily and Damien decided to do the same.

 **AR VISION LINK ESTABLISHED**

 **DUEL!**

 **Damien: 4000**

 **VS**

 **Shark: 4000**

The crowd cheered as the duel began. "So who's betting on Damien to win?" asked Ryu.

"Well, Shark will clobber him. That much I know" Replied Shun. Ryu looked at Shun annoyed.

"Oh come on, it's always "Shark will crush him" etc. What's his deal anyway?" asked Ryu annoyed. The others stared at him. He obviously didn't know.

"Hello? Shark crushed the Asian champion IV when he was just fourteen in the first WDC! And since then has made a reputation as one of the greatest duelling legends in the world!" explained Ruri. Suddenly, the crowd cheered and the four young duelists looked back at the duel at hand.

 **Current status of duel:**

 **Damien: 4000**

 **VS**

 **Shark: 4000**

 **Damien's field:**

 **No monsters and no spell or traps in spell and trap zone**

 **Shark's field:**

 **Submersible Carrier Aero Shark: Rank 3/WATER/Fish/Xyz/1900 ATK/1000 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS 2**

 **TURN 1 Shark Hand: 3**

"I activate Aero Shark's effect! By using one overlay unit, it can strike you for 400 points of damage for every card in my hand!" Shark yelled as Aero Shark absorbed one of its overlay units.

 **Aero Shark OVERLAY UNITS: 1**

"I'm holding 3 cards, so that's 1200 points of damage!"

Aero Shark let out a loud roar before firing 3 pods at Damien. The pods then burst open, revealing 4 small missiles in each one. The missiles then rained down in front of Damien, sending him staggering backwards.

 **Damien: 4000 – 1200 = 2800**

"I set two cards and end my turn," said Shark as the face downs appeared on the field.

 **Shark Hand: 1**

"Not bad. He dealt some damage and set up a good defence on his first turn" commented Ryu and looked over at Damien. "Don't count Damien out yet?" said Yuto. "He'll have some tricks up his sleeve."

"My turn, I draw!" yelled Damien and smiled at the card he drew. "I summon Geargiarsenal in attack mode!" The monster that appeared was a machine that's bottom half looked similar to a tank having the caterpillar wheels, but on the top sat a small figure that appeared to be made from an assortment of different coloured gears. Attached to the machine for arms were a drill on the right and a large claw on the left.

 **Geargiarsenal: Level 4/EARTH/Machine/1500 ATK/500 DEF**

"And guess what? My machine gains an additional 200 attack points for every Geargia monster on the field!" said Damien as the machine was surrounded by a red aura as its attack points rose.

 **Geargiarsenal ATK: 1500 + 200 = 1700**

"Next, I special summon Geargiaccelerator!" Damien called as he slammed the card on his duel disk. This new machine had the same small figure that was made from the different coloured gears. However, this figure's machine of choice was a small blue and yellow race car.

 **Geargiaccelerator: Level 4/EARTH/Machine/1400 ATK/800 DEF**

 **Geargiarsenal ATK: 1700 + 200 = 1900**

Ryu then noticed the levels of Damien's monsters. "Two level fours, I see what he's up to now." He said.

"I overlay my Level 4 Geargiarsenal and Geargiaccelerator in order to construct to overlay network!" yelled Damien and his two strange monsters turned orange and flew up into the air. The Xyz portal opened up and the two monsters flew into it. "Great machine! Come forth and show that you are the king of all gears!" Damien chanted as a flash of light flew out the portal. "Xyz summon! Come to me Rank four! Gear Gigant X!"

This new monster that rose out the portal was a giant green and blue robot with gears covering its entire body. Two red disks were attached to each of its wrists and a large blue gear was attached to its back.

 **Gear Gigant X: Rank 4/EARTH/Machine/Xyz/2300 ATK/1500 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS 2**

"Now I use one overlay unit to add Geargiarmour to my hand." The giant robot then absorbed one of its orange overlay units into its chest and a card slipped out of Damien's deck and he added it to his hand.

 **Geargiarmour: Level 4/EARTH/Machine/1100 ATK/1900 DEF**

"Battle phase! Gigant X! Attack his Aero Shark! GRINDING GEARS!" Damien called and the giant robot then punched the air with its two mechanical fists and the red disks flew off its wrists and towards Aero Shark. Aero Shark could do nothing as the two disks began slicing him apart before he exploded knocking Shark back.

 **Shark: 4000 – 400 = 3600**

"I activate the effect of my Needle Sunfish!" Shark retaliated as the graveyard portal opened up.

 **Needle Sunfish: Level 3/WATER/Fish/1500 ATK/500 DEF**

"Since this guy was sent to the graveyard your tin can loses 500 ATK points!" Shark yelled and a barrage of large glowing needles flew out of the portal and hit Gigant X causing small explosions and effectively lowering its ATK.

 **Gear Gigant X ATK: 2300 – 500 = 1800**

"Next, I play two traps!" Shark yelled as one of his face downs revealed itself. "Ghost Salvage will bring back Aero Shark as well as its overlay units!" The graveyard portal opened up and 3 marine creatures flew out of it. The first was, of course, Shark's infamous flying war shark, Aero Shark, whose orange paint glistened in the sunlight. The second was a blue sunfish whose open mouth revealed hundreds if not thousands of sharp red needles ready to be launched at any second. The final monster was a small blue shark with suction cups on top of its head. It appeared to be a cross between a shark and remora.

 **Submersible Carrier Aero Shark: Rank 3/WATER/Fish/Xyz/1900 ATK/1000 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS 0**

 **Needle Sunfish: Level 3/WATER/Fish/1500 ATK/500 DEF**

 **Shark Stickers: Level 3/WATER/Fish/200 ATK/1000 DEF**

"Unfortunately, due to the effect of ghost salvage their effects are negated but that won't matter after I use my second trap" Shark explained and the trap revealed itself causing Damien to give a look of horror. "NO! Not that card!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, this card!" Shouted Shark. "Full Armoured Xyz allows me to Xyz summon instantly, so now I overlay both Needle Sunfish and Shark Stickers!" Both monsters turned blue and flew up into the air as the Xyz portal opened beneath them. The streams of blue energy flew into the portal ready to create the new monster. A flash of light soon erupted out of the portal afterwards.

"Lancer of darkness, let no one escape your vengeful rage! Xyz, summon! Rise from the depth's rank 3! Black Ray Lancer!" The ground cracked open and a stream of purple energy shot out of it and soon disappeared revealing the monster. Shark's new monster was a large merman warrior covered in black armour. It had four amphibious wings two large ones on its back and two smaller ones in place of its legs. It's weapon? A large double-edged spear which it swung round vigorously before aiming it at Shark's foe as two purple overlay units circled it.

 **Black Ray Lancer: Rank 3/DARK/Beast-Warrior/2100 ATK/600 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS 2**

"Now! Full Armoured Xyz equips Aero Shark onto Black Ray Lancer!" Yelled shark as Aero Shark roared and flew up into the air and split apart into its two separate sharks. They then became streams of energy, one red and one blue and hit Black Ray Lancer causing a bright purple flash which the crowd had to shield their eyes from. When the flash died down, the crowd stared in amazement as both monsters had somehow become one. The main two bodies of Aero Shark were now attached to Black Ray Lancers shoulders and arms. The wings were of Aero Shark were attached to the sides of its body and had become longer. Finally, Black Ray Lancers bottom fins were replaced by two mechanical turbo engines. It let out a loud cry as its power increased.

 **Black Ray Lancer ATK: 2100 + 1900 = 4000**

Ryu stared at the mighty mechanical fusion in disbelief. How was it possible to fuse two of your monsters together? Then again it technically wasn't a fusion as Aero Shark had been equipped to Black Ray lancer.

" _Fusion. Why does that word sound so familiar?"_

Damien stared at the giant monster that loomed over him. "I-I-I set t-two cards and end m-m-my turn" he stuttered.

 **Damien Hand: 3**

"I draw," Shark said as he drew his card. "This is the moment that I've been waiting for. You were too reckless when you decided to attack me and now it will cost you dearly" he said as he revealed the card he drew. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the set card on my left," he said and a large tornado blew across the field demolishing Damien's set card. _"Shit, I needed that!"_

"Now I play my final card, Back-up Rider, which will give Black ray 1500 more attack points!" Shark yelled as he slammed the card into his spell and trap slot. Shortly afterwards, a white aura flew out of the card and covered Black Ray Lancer. Black Ray Lancer gave an inhuman cry as its strength increased.

 **Black Ray Lancer ATK: 4000 + 1500 = 5500**

Ryu's jaw dropped as he saw how powerful the monster had become. Ruri looked at him and simply said: "I told you he was good."

"Black Ray! End this duel!" Shark yelled as he thrust his right hand forward, signalling his attack. Damien stared at the monster in defeat, know what was about to happen. _"Damn it, that thing has over Five thousand attack points and there's nothing in my hand that can stop it. My face down is useless also. What do I do?"_ he thought and then lowered his duel disk in defeat.

"SHIMMERING SPEAR SLASH!" yelled Sharkand Black Ray Lancer formed dark energy between its hands. The dark energy then transformed into a long black spear which he spun around and threw at Gigant X. The spear then hit Gigant X square in the chest and pierced through its body. Gigant X let out one last cry before exploding and sending Damien Flying.

 **Damien: 2800 – 3700 = 0**

 **Damien: LOSE**

"Ladies and gentlemen! We have a winner! Give it up for Ryoga Kamishiro!" The MC yelled and the crowd went into a wild frenzy. Damien got up and walked over to Shark and shook hands with him showing true sportsmanship.

* * *

Shark walked down a hallway that was in the stadium carrying a large trophy. Shark let out a loud yawn as looked at the trophy. God, he was bored. He thought this kid would be a challenge and in the end he was just another lucky finalist who got the chance to duel him. "Another victory I suppose?" Said a female voice. Shark turned around to see a familiar face. The girl was 14 and had magenta eyes and dark blue hair with aqua highlights. She wore ripped jeans and a white sleeveless top. "Oh, hi Rei," Shark said lazily.

"Hi Ryoga" Rei replied as she scratched the scar on her neck. "Can I ask you something?" she said.

"Sure, just make it quick cause I'm tired" Shark replied yawning once again.

"Can I _Please_ Go the park to duel someone?" She asked, praying he would say yes. Shark stared at her before simply answering "no."

"Why not?!" She exclaimed. "I'm sick of always just duelling you! Or Vector! Or Misael! Why won't you let me go and make friends Ryoga?!" Rei protested.

 _"I swear to god she's just like Rio,"_ thought Shark. "Look, the reason why I don't let you duel others is because of little "accident" when you were duelling Misael the other week," he said. Rei stopped and thought for a moment. He did have a point Misael had almost got hurt because of her. But still she was her own person and could do what she wanted. "I don't care what you say I can do what I want!" she exclaimed before running off.

"Rei wait!" Shark called but to no avail. As Rei was running she reached into her pocket and pulled out a card that was faintly glowing. _"Aquarmament Lock-on Leviathan. What do you want from me?!"_

 _Cards made by other authors_

OPFan37

 **Aquarmament Lock-On Leviathan:**

 **Rank ?/?/?/Xyz/? ATK/? DEF**

 **Effect: UNKOWN**

 _Cards made by me_

 **Frightfur Firework Dragon: Level ?/?/?/Fusion/? ATK/? DEF**

 **Effect: UNKNOWN**

* * *

 **Well, there you go. Another chapter from me. Unfortunately, I have exams coming up once I get back to school yay! XD. But I won't have any time to work on the next chapter which I have already planned out. Moving on, thank you OPFan37 for letting me use his Aquarmaments in this story and they will be appearing later on. If you liked this chapter then leave a review why and I'll see you in the next update!**

 **Fun fact: I originally planned to skip the duel in this chapter.**


	5. Chapter 3

**Hi, everyone! I am back! I decided to get this chapter done quickly as I had already planned it out. Now it is done so here you go!**

 **Disclaimer is on the first page.**

Chapter 3: Explosive Duel

Asuka sat at the table in her house looking at the deck she had been given.

Flashback

 _Asuka walked into the big building that was in front of her. She went to the main desk where a woman was working busily. "Excuse me, which room does Mr Hankou work in? I'm his daughter and he needed to see me urgently" she asked politely._

" _Of course, just give me a minute," the woman said and typed something on her computer._

" _Ah! There you go, floor fifteen, room 43" the woman said. Asuka thanked her and walked over to the elevator. An orange haired boy was walking around the street when he looked over into the building and his eyes caught a glimpse of a girl he thought he recognised._

" _The Professor is not going to be happy if that's who I think it is," he said before running off. Asuka soon reached the fifteenth floor and found her father's office. She knocked on the door and was told to come in._

" _Lock the door," her father said sternly and she did as she was told. "Take a seat," her father said and she sat down. He then handed her a wooden box. "Here, take it," he said and Asuka did so and opened it up. Inside the box was a deck and she began flicking through the cards, recognizing most of them._

" _This is-!" she began and her father nodded._

" _Correct, this was your mother's deck."_

" _Well, why do you have it? And why are you giving it to me anyway?"_

" _Firstly, I took it to upgrade it and make it stronger, take a look at the next few cards."_

 _Asuka flicked through the deck until she stumbled across a card she instantly recognized._

" _You can't be serious!" she exclaimed and her father stared at her._

" _I am serious. Now, to answer you second question, I gave you it because you're the only one who's strong enough to beat him."_

" _Hold on, I thought we were protecting him!"_

" _We were until he began having the nightmares."_

" _I can't hurt him! He's my brother for god's sake!"_

" _He's not your brother you forget! And if you don't beat him, that thing will come back and kill us all!"_

 _Silence filled the room for what seemed like an eternity before Asuka took in a deep breath and sighed. "Fine, I'll do it," she said sadly and walked to the door._

" _Asuka! One more thing" her father called. Asuka, who was now halfway through the door, turned back toward her father, ready to listen to his next orders._

" _Keep him away from that Yuto boy. I fear he has one of them and Zexrax will go crazy" he said._

" _I understand," Asuka said while trying to hold the tears back._

End of Flashback

Asuka flicked through her mother's old deck once again and stopped at a monster that had been her mother's ace. The door was then flung open which made Asuka jump. She turned to see that Ryu had returned with the stupid smile he always had on his face. "Do not scare me like that again!" she yelled in annoyance which made Ryu smile.

"Sorry Asuka I just came back to pick up my deck and duel disk," he said as he dashed upstairs. A moment later he ran back down with his D-pad and deck and walked over to the fridge. He got out a can of coca cola and took off his red scarf that he was wearing and used it to cover his hand as he was opening the coke so his hand wouldn't get cold by the frozen drink. A moment later he put it down on the kitchen side and began drinking. Asuka picked up the scarf and stared at it.

"Where'd you get this fancy thing?" she asked teasingly and Ryu put the coke down and went to grab the scarf.

"Give it back! That's mine!" he protested.

"Oh is it now?" Asuka teased and held it out of arms reach as Ryu desperately tried to grab it.

"Not Funny Asuka! Give it back!" Ryu whined as his hands kept swiping nothing but the air until it finally happened.

"I SAID GIVE IT BACK!" Ryu roared as his eyes flashed red, filled with hatred and anger. This made Asuka jump and let go of the scarf which Ryu immediately snatched out of the air. "Thank you!" he said annoyed and stormed out of the house leaving Asuka shaken up.

" _What the hell is he becoming?"_

* * *

Ryu soon made it to a small cafe in the middle of Heartland Park where Yuto, Ruri and Shun were sitting and it appeared the Kurosaki siblings were arguing.

"Oh come on Shun! Just put it on! Ryu and Yuto are wearing their scarves so just wear yours!"

Shun looked at the item of clothing he held in his hand.

"Big deal, it's just a stupid scarf, what difference will it make?" He huffed.

"Come on" protested Ruri "It'll look good with your black top. Won't you do this for me?" Ruri pleaded pulling her infamous puppy eye technique. Shun sighed, that always worked on him.

"Fine," he said annoyed as put on the scarf.

"Troubles in paradise?" Ryu asked as he walked up to his three friends.

"As usual," said Ruri, receiving a glare from Shun.

"Well, I'm bored so how about a duel?" Asked Yuto.

"Sure I'm in!" Chirped Ryu "I've been wanting to test this new deck list out," he said.

"Then you'll need this," Yuto said handing Ryu a card. Ryu looked at it. "This is the new Xyz monster your dad was working on!" Said Ryu excitedly.

"Yep and he wanted us to test it," said Yuto.

"Well alright then! Let's duel!"

* * *

Ryu and Yuto were soon standing a distance away from each other when CRASH! Yuto looked over to see that a girl had crashed into Ryu. The girl had magenta eyes and dark blue hair with aqua highlights. She wore ripped jeans and a white sleeveless top. She soon got up. "Hey! Watch where the hell you're standing!" She yelled at Ryu. Ryu soon got up as well.

"Watch where I'm standing? You're the one who slammed into _me_!" he retorted.

"Well, _you're_ the one who didn't move!" She shouted. Both of them glared daggers at each other until Ryu sighed. "Look, I'm sorry," he said before extending his hand out.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I should have been looking where I was going" She replied as she shook his hand. Yuto, Ruri and Shun soon came running over. "Ryu you alright?" asked Yuto.

"Don't worry I'm fine" replied Ryu and turned towards the girl.

"I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble," she said. "I've been a bit stressed lately. It's nice to meet you, my name is Rei" the girl said.

"It's nice to meet you too. My name is Ruri and this charming idiot is my brother Shun" Ruri said gesturing towards Shun.

"Hey! I'm right here ya know!" He said angrily.

Ryu chuckled. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Ryu," he said.

"And I'm Yuto, it's a pleasure" added Yuto.

* * *

The five were soon sat at one of the outside tables at the small café, as Ryu and Yuto decided to put their duel on hold to see if Rei was alright. Ruri had started up a conversation and soon they had completely forgotten that Ryu was about to face Yuto. they now seemed to be discussing the recent finals. "And when he used that Full Armoured Xyz, I was taken aback," said Shun, who had seemed to be hyped about the match.

"Yeah, that was an impressive manoeuvre," said Rei as she took a sip of tea from her cup. Ryu looked at Rei with interest. There was something about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on. It was something…familiar.

"So, why are you here all alone anyway Rei?" asked Shun, snapping Ryu out of his thoughts.

"Oh, that's easy. I came here looking to duel someone." And then it hit Ryu like a brick wall.

"Crap! we were supposed to duel each other!" he exclaimed causing Yuto to remember as well.

"You're right! we must have gotten into the conversation so much that we forgot" he said.

"May I interject?" asked Rei and the two duelists looked at her. "How about I duel one of you?" she asked and the boys eyes lit up.

"I'll take you on!" said Yuto.

"Yuto wait," said Ryu. "Your dad wanted me to test his new card out so let me go instead."

"No way man, I want to duel!" complained Yuto.

"Yuto please" begged Ryu and Yuto finally gave in.

"Fine, but only cause you have to test that new card out, and you better use it," he said annoyed. Ryu smiled.

"Alright Rei, Whaddaya say?" he asked the girl

"Sure, bring it on."

* * *

Ryu and Rei were soon ready. They activated their duel disks and D-gazers and Ruri, Yuto and Shun had their D-gazers out as well.

 **AR VISION LINK ESTABLISHED**

 **DUEL!**

 **Ryu: 4000**

 **VS**

 **Rei: 4000**

"Ladies first" offered Ryu, but Rei declined.

"Nah, I'll let you go first," said Rei.

"It's your funeral then. My turn!"

 **TURN: 1 Ryu Hand: 5**

"I summon Twin-Headed Behemoth in attack mode!" Ryu yelled, taking a card from his hand and placing it on his duel disk. A second later, a small tornado appeared in front of Ryu and two pairs of eyes could be seen glowing out of it. The creature in the tornado roared and the wind dispersed, revealing it. The creature was a humanoid purple dragon with no arms. In place of the arms were two ferocious looking heads with a large spike on them. One head had blue eyes and the other head had red eyes.

 **Twin-Headed Behemoth: Level 3/WIND/Dragon/1500 ATK/1200 DEF**

"I set one card and end my turn," Ryu said as a face down appeared on the field.

 **Ryu Hand: 3**

"Now try and keep up with that" Ryu said smugly with a grin appearing on his face.

"My turn I draw!" Rei yelled and Ryu thought for a second that her eyes were purple.

 **TURN: 2 Rei Hand: 6**

"First I activate two spells! Two copies of Dark Room of Nightmare!" Rei called and the two spells appeared.

"Dark Room of Nightmare…where have I heard that before?" wondered Yuto.

"It's a continuous spell that inflicts 300 points of damage to the opponent when they take damage from another card effect" explained Shun. "You should know about it already since you lost to it last week" he added receiving a glare from Yuto.

"But with two cards, Ryu will take 600 points," said Ruri. Ryu gritted his teeth. He hadn't been expecting a burn deck. The next thing she would do would be summoning that annoying Solar Flare Dragon that never dies.

"Now I summon **Aquarmament Pistol Fish**!" Rei yelled, taking everyone by surprise. A grey scaled fish soon rose up onto the battlefield.

 **Aquarmament Pistol Fish: Level 3/WATER/Fish/1200 ATK/1000 DEF**

"Now Pistol Fish's effect activates! So when he's summoned, you take 400 points of damage!" Rei called.

"Say what!" exclaimed Ryu before the barrel of a pistol emerged out of the Fish's mouth and fired four shots at Ryu.

 **Ryu: 4000 – 400 = 3600**

"Now for both Dark Room of Nightmare's effect! So you take 600 more points of damage!" Ryu's shadow soon rose up from behind him and Ryu turned to face it. The shadow looked like him except a bit more demonic, with sharp black claws made from darkness and piercing red eyes that looked into one's own soul. The shadow screamed and scratched Ryu twice, causing him to cry out in pain.

 **Ryu: 3600 – 600 = 3000**

"Now I play the spell Aqua Jet which gives Pistol Fish 1000 more attack points!" Rei yelled and two small orange jet engines with wings on them appeared and attached to Pistol Fish's sides.

 **Pistol Fish ATK: 1200 + 1000 = 2200**

"Now Pistol Fish! Destroy his Behemoth! Pistol Blast!" Pistol Fish soon flew towards Ryu's monster with the jet engines giving it a boost. It opened its mouth revealing the pistol barrel and began firing at the Behemoth. Behemoth, on the other hand, cried out in pain as the energy bullets rained down on it. Soon it was nothing but gold particles in the air. Ryu was soon thrown back as the damage hit him.

 **Ryu: 3000 – 700 = 2300**

"I set on card and end my turn," Rei said

 **Rei Hand: 1**

Rei then clutched her head in pain and looked at Ryu as her purple eyes disappeared.

"Hey Rei, you alright?" Ryu asked.

"I'm fine! And this time actually summon something useful!" she yelled. Ryu smirked.

"You shouldn't underestimate my monster as it makes a quick recovery," Ryu said and the gold particles that were once Behemoth soon began to form together and the monster was reborn. It let out a loud roar, signalling its return.

 **Twin-Headed Behemoth: Level 3/WIND/Dragon/1000 ATK/1000 DEF**

"How'd you do that?!" exclaimed Rei in shock.

"Behemoths ability, when it's destroyed it comes back during the end phase, but it's attack and defence points become 1000" Ryu stated.

" _Not bad brat, you managed to revive your monster, however, you're still being beaten by a girl"_

"Hey! Pipe down will ya!" hissed Ryu quietly. "My turn! Draw!" Ryu yelled, drawing his card.

 **TURN: 3 Ryu Hand: 4**

"I summon **Dragonic Trooper**! And then via its effect, I summon **Dragonic Chain Swordsman**!" Ryu called and his two weapon wielding dragons appeared ready to battle. Dragonic Trooper looked a lot like Troop Dragon except it didn't have the wings and the weapon it held was a large naginata, ready to slice away at Ryu's opponent.

 **Dragonic Chain Swordsman: Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/900 ATK/1200 DEF**

 **Dragonic Trooper: Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/700 ATK/1500 DEF**

"Now thanks to Chain Swordsman's effect, your little fish loses 500 attack points!" The chain wielding dragon soon spun its chain around and threw it at Pistol Fish, wrapping around it.

 **Pistol Fish ATK: 2200 – 500 = 1700**

"All the preparations are complete. It's time for a little xyz action!" Yelled Ryu as both his new monsters roared. "Using both level three Dragonic Trooper and Dragonic Chain Swordsman, I overlay!" Ryu yelled as both his dragons turned red and flew into the air as energy streams. "Using these two monsters, I construct the overlay network!" The galaxy xyz portal opened up and both monsters flew in and afterwards a stream of light shot out the portal. "Hero from the bloody battlefield, raise your sword and command the dragons! Xyz, summon! Rise up! Rank three! **Dragonic Hero Broadsword**!" Ryu chanted.

Out of the portal rose something no one expected. Everyone (aside from Yuto) expected a dragon to rise out of the portal, but instead, a knight wearing black and silver armour did. The knight had blue eyes and two large dragon wings on his back and two large spikes on his shoulder pads. He had a black shield in one hand that hand two green gems on it and large broadsword in his other hand. He let out a cry, signalling he was ready for battle as two red overlay units circled him.

 **Dragonic Hero Broadsword: Rank 3/FIRE/Warrior/Xyz/2000 ATK/1200 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS 2**

"Yes! he summoned it! now let's see how this card actually fairs in a duel" Yuto said.

"Now I use Broadswords effect! So by using on overlay unit, he gains 1000 attack points until the end of the turn!" The knight slashed apart one of the overlay units with his sword and was soon covered in a red aura as his attack points rose.

 **Broadsword OVERLAY UNITS: 1**

 **Broadsword ATK: 2000 + 1000 = 3000**

"Alright! Now Ryu's got a monster with 3000 attack points" said Ruri.

"Well let's just hope he can put them to good use," said Shun.

"Battle phase! Broadsword attack Pistol Fish!" Yelled Ryu and his warrior soon pounced on the little fish.

"I activate my face down! **Defence School**! Now all my Aquarmaments change to defense mode!" Rei yelled.

Broadsword soon swung its massive sword down on Pistol Fish, slicing it in half.

 **Rei: 4000 – 2000 = 2000**

"How come I took damage?" Asked Rei.

"Broadsword inflicts piercing damage so you just helped me actually," said Ryu. "Now Behemoth! Attack her directly!" The twin-headed dragon soon unleashed two energy blasts from its mouths, one red and the other blue. The blasts pushed Rei back a bit when they hit her.

 **Rei: 2000 – 1000 = 1000**

"With that, I end my turn with a face down" Ryu said.

 **Broadsword ATK: 2000**

 **Ryu Hand: 1**

"That's it! No more Mr nice guy! Time to get serious!" Rei yelled while drawing her card.

 **TURN: 4 Rei Hand: 2**

"I'll begin by activating my pot of greed! So that's two more cards for me!" Rei said as she picked up two more cards from the top of her deck. She then smiled. "I'm feeling a little bit greedy, so I activate the spell **Re-arm 'N' Reload**! So with this, I can return one Aquarmament monster from my hand to the deck, and draw cards equal to its level! So I return the level four **Aquarmament Catapult Clam** to my deck and draw four cards!" Rei explained as she drew four more cards.

"Unfortunately, I have to send every monster I drew to the graveyard," Rei said as she placed two cards in her graveyard. "But now you take 100 points of damage for every monster sent! So, since I sent two monsters, that's two hundred points!"

 **Ryu: 2300 – 200 = 2100**

"Now I use my spell **Trench Overlay**!" Rei called as two graveyard portals opened up in front of her. "If I control no monsters I can use water monsters from my graveyard as materials for a Xyz summon!"

"From your Graveyard?!" Everyone exclaimed in shock. They had never heard of a card that allowed one to xyz summon from their graveyard.

"I overlay Pistol Fish and Shark Stickers in my graveyard!" Rei yelled as the two familiar monsters rose out of the two black portals and turned completely blue. They then flew up into the air and entered the xyz portal that had just opened up above them. A flash of light soon shot out the portal.

"Submarine of the deepest depths, surface from the ocean and fight! Xyz, summon! Rise rank three! **Aquarmament Dart Shark**!" Rei chanted.

Out of the portal descended what appeared to be a large maroon colored mechanical shark with two large guns on its back and two small holes underneath its mouth. It descended down slowly until it hovered next to Rei with two blue overlay units circling it.

 **Aquarmament Dart Shark: Rank 3/WATER/Fish/Xyz/2000 ATK/900 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS: 2**

"Now I use Dart Shark's effect! So by using an overlay unit, you take 600 points of damage! Go Mayhem Missile!" Dart Shark then fired two black missiles at Ryu. They exploded in front of him, sending him flying backwards.

 **Ryu: 2100 – 600 = 1500**

"And now you'll take 600 more points thanks to Dark Room of Nightmare," Rei said as the two spells activated and the demonic Ryu scratched the real one again.

 **Ryu: 1500 – 600 = 900**

"I activate the spell **Xyz Mirror**!" Retaliated Ryu as the face down flipped up and Ruri smiled as she recognised the card.

"Why didn't you use that earlier?" asked Rei confused.

"I set it as a bluff to stop you from attacking me, but once I knew you were playing a burn deck, I needed to get your life points down low so you could finish yourself with your own damage!" explained Ryu.

The spell then shot a ray of translucent white energy at Rei, but she was ready for it. "I play **Aquatic Mirror**!" She yelled as a large blue mirror appeared in front of her. The mirror was covered in seaweed and the glass seemed to be made of water. "I always thought someone would try and beat me with my own effect damage, so I had this ready just in case," Rei said as the water in the mirror absorbed the energy blast.

" _Damn it! She read my move!"_ thought Ryu worriedly as the mirror began to glow.

"This spell halves the damage I take but you take the same amount!" Rei yelled as the mirror sent the blast back to Ryu and knocked him on the floor. The mirror then self-destructed, knocking Rei off her feet.

 **Ryu: 900 – 700 = 200**

 **Rei: 1000 – 700 = 300**

"This duel is crazy!" Exclaimed Yuto "Both of them are even in strength! I don't know who's going to win now!"

"Rei wins," said Shun and Ruri and Yuto stared at him.

"How?" Asked Ruri "Ryu still has life points left!" she protested.

"Remember Dark Room of nightmare" Shun simply said and Ruri's eyes widened.

Yuto smiled. "Ryu won't lose, just watch," he said and the Kurosaki siblings looked at him.

Ryu stood up wearily. "I use Broadswords final effect!" Ryu yelled as his monster looked at Behemoth. "If my life points would be reduced to zero, I can use one overlay unit to banish a dragon on my field and my life points stay the same for the rest of the turn!" Broadsword pointed its sword at Behemoth and the dragon then moved in front of Ryu, protecting him from the shadow.

 **Broadsword OVERLAY UNITS: 0**

"However, this effect can only be used once and you get to draw a card" Said Ryu.

"And due to my mirror's other effect, I get to draw another card" added Rei as she drew two cards instead of one. She then looked at them and said, "I place two cards face down, turn end."

 **Rei Hand: 1**

Ruri breathed a sigh of relief. "For a second, I thought he was going to lose. It was lucky Broadsword had that lifesaving effect, thank goodness" she said.

"It isn't over yet," said Shun "Ryu needs to win this turn of else he's done for."

Ryu looked at his deck. _"C'mon deck, I Really need your help here. You haven't failed me yet and don't start now"_ He thought. Then it happened, Ryu's eyes changed colour once again. "I Draw!" He roared as he ripped the top card off his deck. He looked at the card and smiled.

 **TURN: 5 Ryu Hand: 2**

"Excellent, I play this, my Pot of Greed! So now I can draw two more cards to refresh my hand!" Said Ryu as he drew two more cards. He then looked at his hand deciding what to play. "Next, I set one card face down and end my turn," said Ryu as another face down appeared on the field. Yuto stared at him.

"That's all he's going to do?" he said.

"Maybe he has a plan," said Ruri. "Or at least, I hope he does."

 **Ryu Hand: 1**

Rei placed her hand on top of her deck and drew her card and her eyes changed to purple.

 **TURN: 6 Rei Hand: 2**

"I use Dart Shark's effect! So I use one overlay unit to inflict 600 points of damage to you!" Rei exclaimed. Dart Shark then fired two more missiles at Ryu and then his eyes glowed.

"Trap open! Energy-Absorbing Monolith! This converts the damage into life points for me!" Ryu exclaimed as a large monolith appeared and absorbed the missiles. Then the monolith then shattered and became gold particles. These particles then surrounded Ryu, giving him life points.

"I counter with the trap, **Trap Burn**! After a trap card resolves, the opponent takes 300 points of damage!" Rei yelled as an explosion occurred in front of Ryu, sending him flying back.

 **Ryu: 200 + 600 = 800**

 **Ryu: 800 – 300 = 500**

"Now I use the spell, Back-Up Rider! So my Dart Shark gains 1500 additional attack points!" A white aura soon covered Dart Shark as its attack points began to increase.

 **Dart Shark ATK: 2000 + 1500 = 3500**

"3500 attack points" breathed Ryu.

"Dart Shark! End this duel" Rei yelled. "Oceanic Barrage!" The two guns on Dart Shark then turned to face Broadsword and began firing at him.

"Trap open! **Dragon Soul Battle**! With this, Broadsword's attack points are doubled until the end of the battle phase!" Yelled Ryu and a blue aura covered Broadsword and he began to grow in size in order to combat the giant war shark.

 **Broadsword ATK: 2000 x 2 = 4000**

 **Ryu: 500 – 300 = 200**

"Destroy him!" Ryu yelled maliciously, his eyes glowing and Broadsword then hid behind his shield as the bullets rained down on it.

"Watch out Dart Shark!" Rei called, her eyes glowing too.

The shield proved to too strong for the bullets and they were deflected off of, hitting almost everything in sight. Dart Shark roared and charged into Broadsword, the force of the impact creating a large shockwave that knocked everyone back.

"That's it! CRUSH him!" Rei said evilly.

Broadsword then shoved Dark Shark of himself and flew into the air.

"Tear him APART!" Ryu screamed and Broadsword then flew down towards Dart Shark at tremendous speed and rammed into it. Broadsword then jumped back and waited for the smoke to clear. Dart Shark then flew out of the smoke and charged into Broadsword, the two now pushing against each other to prove which one was stronger.

"I activate a trap!" Snarled Rei catching Ryu by surprise. " **Final Xyz** will destroy both our monsters and deal us damage equal to their combined attack points" she explained.

"The total attack is…7500!" Ryu exclaimed in fear. Both monsters began to glow and let out a last cry each before they exploded and sent Ryu and Rei flying.

 **Ryu: 200 – 7500 = 0**

 **Rei: 300 – 7500 = 0**

 **DRAW**

When Yuto, Ruri and Shun came out from hiding behind a table, they gasped at what they saw. craters layered the ground from the fierce battle between Ryu and Rei. They soon saw the two duelists just standing still, not moving. an eerie silence filled the air before Ryu let out a small laugh, fell over and didn't move. Rei soon followed as she fell over as well.

* * *

Deep in Heartland, down a dark alleyway, a portal opened up and a young boy flew out of it screaming. He hit a couple of trash cans, groaned and didn't get up.

 _Cards made by other authors_

OPFan37

 **Aquarmament Pistol Fish: Level 3/WATER/Fish/1200 ATK/1000 DEF**

 _Effect: When this card is summoned; inflict 400 points of damage to your opponent._

 **Aquarmament Dart Shark: Rank 3/WATER/Fish/Xyz/2000 ATK/900 DEF/**

 _Effect: 2 Level 3 monsters_

 _Once per turn you can detach one Xyz material from this card to inflict 600 points of damage to your opponent_.

 **Defence School**

 _Quick-play spell_

 _Effect: Change all Aquarmament monsters you control to defense mode._

 _Cards made by me_

 **Dragonic Chain Swordsman: Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/900 ATK/1200 DEF**

 _Effect: This card cannot be normal summoned or set. If you control a Dragonic monster you can special summon this card from your hand. When this card is summoned target one monster your opponent controls; it loses 500 attack points._

 **Dragonic Trooper: Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/700 ATK/1500 DEF**

 _Effect: When this card is destroyed by battle or card effect you can special summon one Dragonic Trooper from your deck._

 **Dragonic Hero Broadsword: Rank 3/FIRE/Warrior/Xyz/2000 ATK/1200 DEF**

 _Effect: 2 Level 3 monsters_

 _This card can inflict piercing damage. Once, per turn, you can detach one Xyz material from this card to have it gain 1000 attack points until the end of the turn. If your life points would be reduced to zero, you can detach one Xyz material from this card and banish one face-up dragon type monster you control or if you control, no dragon types then one dragon type from your graveyard. Your life points stay the same for the rest of the turn. This effect can only be used once per duel and after this effect is used your opponent can draw one card._

 **Re-arm 'N' Reload**

 _Spell_

 _Effect: Shuffle one Aquarmament monster from your hand into your deck and draw cards equal to its level, then send all monsters drawn by this effect to the graveyard and inflict 100 points of damage to your opponent for each one._

 **Trench Overlay**

 _spell_

 _Effect: Activate if you control no monsters. Target two level 4 or lower water monsters in your graveyard with the same level. Special summon them with their effects negated and immediately afterwards, Xyz summon one water Xyz monster by using the summoned monsters as materials._

 **XYZ Mirror**

 _Quick-play spell_

 _Effect: You can only Activate this card when you take damage from a card effect, inflict the same amount of damage to your opponent. If you control a Xyz monster inflict damage to your opponent equal to the total amount of damage you took this turn before this card was activated._

 **Aquatic Mirror**

 _Quick-play Spell_

 _Effect: If you were to take damage from a card effect; half that damage and then inflict the same amount of damage to your opponent that you took. then draw one card._ **  
**

 **Trap Burn**

 _Continuous Trap_

 _Effect: When the effect of a trap card resolves; that cards owner takes 300 points of damage._

 **Dragon Soul Battle**

 _Trap_

 _Effect: Activate only when an opponent's monster declares an attack on a monster you control; discard one card and your monster's attack points become double its original attack points. The monster affected by this effect is destroyed at the end of the battle phase._

 **Final Xyz**

 _Trap_

 _Effect: When two Xyz monsters battle, destroy both monsters and inflict damage to both players equal to their combined attack points._

* * *

 **Well there you go, another chapter done. I had already planned this chapter out ages ago and was supposed to have the duel in the last chapter, but I decided to put it in another chapter instead. I feel really proud I done it in a short time. Now I have my exams coming up in a few weeks, so I won't have any time to write. But I will continue this in a few weeks after my exams are over so yay! Enough from me now, this chapter probably left you with a few questions and a few answers, but all will be answered soon. Once again, thanks to OPFan37 for letting me use his Aquarmaments and if you liked this chapter then leave a review why and I see you guys later.**

 **Bye!**


	6. Chapter 4

**Ladies and gentlemen I have returned! After a tiring few weeks of exams, I can finally get working on this story again. Last time we left poor Ryu and Rei unconscious but I'm gonna forget about them and let them be unconscious for a while XD. But anyway let's see what's going on while they sleep. As usual, I don't own anything but my OC's and cards.**

Chapter 4: Enter Aurora

It was 7:54 pm on a cold Monday night in the Tops, a busy one to be exact. The city glittered in the night as people went to and fro with their business. Not long afterwards the sound of sirens filled the air. Pedestrians looked down a road to see two figures on Duel Runners but they were commonly called D-Wheels now. The pedestrians knew that the figure at the back was a Duel Chaser as it had flashing green sirens on it and a man wearing the Tops Security uniform. The front figure that was being chased was unrecognisable. The D-Wheel was a sleek design with a combination of pink, blue and white colours. On the side of the D-Wheel was the word AURORA. The rider was female with pink hair and blue eyes and she seemed to be very angry.

" _Damn it! Where the hell is Yugo when you need him! These bloody Tops are after me!"_ She thought angrily. She was too busy being angry that she didn't see the car pull out in front of her. At the last second, she swerved out of the way and down another road leaving the angry tooting of the car behind her. "Sorry!" she called back and then continued to try and shake the Duel Chaser off her tail. The Duel Chaser was known as Duel Chaser 318 and he was a very skilled rider and duellist. He was almost as good as 227. So the girl pulled out onto Highway 6 and tried to lose him in the traffic but he still kept on her tail. _"Won't this guy ever give up?"_ she thought.

"Stop in the name of security!" 318 called to the girl.

"Fuck off!" she retorted.

"Why You! Have I got permission for a forced duel?" 318 said angrily.

"Yes, you have permission. We're raising the roads now" came the reply from his radio. Soon an alarm was heard and tall metal pillars rose out of the ground and folded open into roads.

" _Duel in progress! Duel in progress! Pedestrian vehicles must leave the site immediately!"_ A computerised voice said and other vehicles began to move out of the way. The two D-Wheels and their riders soon turned onto one of the roads that had just been raised.

"So you wanna duel huh? Fine! Be prepared to lose!" The girl said confidently.

"You will be the one to lose," 318 said.

"Beginning forced duel! Field spell Speed World Neo set on!" He yelled as the spell was activated.

" _Duel mode on! Autopilot, standby"_ came the computerised voice from the D-Wheels. The girl soon lowered her speed to match that of 318 and both began speeding along the road side by side.

 **Riding duel…**

 **ACCELERATION!**

 **Aurora: 4000**

 **VS**

 **Duel Chaser 318: 4000**

"Aurora huh? So that's your name" 318 said and soon sped ahead of Aurora and got around the first bend."The first turn is mine!" Yelled 318.

 **TURN: 1 Duel Chaser 318 hand: 5**

"I summon Jutte Fighter!" said 318 taking a card from his hand and placing it on his duel disk. A blue portal opened small man wearing martial arts clothing and holding a jutte appeared out of it. He gave a small cry of 'Goyo' and floated next to 318's duel runner.

 **Jutte Fighter: Level 2/EARTH/Warrior/Tuner/700 ATK/900 DEF**

"And since I control a Jutte monster I can special summon **Jutte Blockade** " continued 318 and another blue portal appeared and a tall man who looked similar to Jutte Lord appeared. In his hand, he held one of the biggest red shields that Aurora had seen. He let out a battle cry, signalling he was ready to serve his master.

 **Jutte Blockade: Level 3/EARTH/Warrior/0 ATK/ 2000 DEF**

" _A level 2 and a level 3. I see what he's doing now"_ thought Aurora.

"I tune my level 3 Jutte Blockade and level 2 Jutte Fighter!" Yelled 318 and Jutte fighter disappeared, leaving 2 Synchro rings. Jutte Blockade flew into the rings and disappeared like Jutte fighter did and left only 3 stars which straightened into a line and a flash of light flew through the rings and stars.

"Great blaster of iron, come forth with the will of the fallen and blast my enemies to oblivion! Synchro summon! Level 5! **Goyo Blaster**!"

This new monster looked a lot like Goyo Catapult except it was much larger, it had mixed colours of black, red, blue and green and it had two massive cannons on its shoulders. It gave a cry before hovering next to 318's duel runner.

 **Goyo Blaster: Level 5/EARTH/Warrior/Synchro/1600 ATK/2400 DEF**

"Now I use my blasters effect! So by banishing one Earth Warrior-Type monster from my graveyard, you take either its ATK or DEF as damage!" 318 Yelled and the spiritual form of Jutte Blockade appeared behind the titan. The top of its cannons opened up and Jutte Blockade turned into yellow energy before being loaded into the cannons. Goyo Blaster gave a roar before firing twin beams of yellow energy at Aurora. Aurora screamed as the energy hit her sending a jolt of pain through her body.

 **Aurora: 4000 – 2000 = 2000**

"I set one card and end my turn," 318 said as the set card appeared.

 **Duel Chaser 318 Hand: 2**

" _Damn! I'm already down by half! I need to scheme something real quick!"_ Aurora thought and began to speed up and passed 318. She then began her turn. "My turn! Draw!" She yelled and drew her card.

 **TURN: 2 Aurora Hand: 6**

"I summon **Arctic Bear** in attack mode!" She called and the same blue portal opened up and revealed a large white bear. The bear was covered in blue Crystals that looked like ice. It had blue eyes and it gave a roar, showing it was ready to serve its mistress.

 **Arctic Bear: Level 4/WATER/Beast/1600 ATK/1400 DEF**

"And when this bear is summoned I can bust out another Artic monster from my deck that's level 3 or below! So say hello to my **Arctic Wolf**!" A white and blue-furred wolf soon appeared and like the bear he was adorned with the same blue crystals. The only difference was that its eyes were red instead of the bears blue.

 **Artic Wolf: Level 2/WATER/Beast/Tuner/200 ATK/1800 DEF**

"Alright! Now were really rollin'! I tune my level 4 bear with my level 2 wolf!" Yelled Aurora and wolf then turned into two Synchro rings and bear flew into them and disappeared leaving 4 stars. A flash of light then shot through the rings.

"Being lost in the snow, adorn your white cloak and reap the unworthy souls with your frozen scythe of death! Synchro summon! Appear Level 6! The ruler of death! **Arctic Reaper**!"

The synchro monster that appeared was a humanoid figure covered in a rugged cloak that was as white as the snow. In its bony left hand, it held a scythe that was made out of ice. 318 felt a bit uneasy as two piercing light blue eyes stared at him.

 **Arctic Reaper: Level 6/WATER/Fiend/Synchro/2500 ATK/1400 DEF**

A buzzing noise was soon heard and Aurora looked over and saw that the local news helicopter was hovering next to the road. Of course, Melissa Clair had to come and make a show of everything.

"This is Tops reporter Melissa Clair with an exciting story for you tonight! The fugitive who was caught stealing from supermarkets in the Tops the past few days has finally been found! Now she has been forced into a duel with one of the securities Duel Chasers and it appears that she is on the ropes."

"Oi Melissa! Buzz off!" Yelled Aurora.

"Hey! I'm just doing by job!" Retorted Melissa. Before the girls could get into a cat fight, 318 stepped in.

"Can you end your turn already?" He asked. Aurora stopped bickering and looked back.

"Oh yeah, I forgot _you_ were back there" She hissed. "I activate the effect of my Reaper! Once per turn, I can destroy one monster you control and deal damage equal to half its attack points! Reaper! Destroy that blaster!" She yelled.

The reaper flew towards Goyo Blaster with its scythe ready to destroy. "I use my trap! **Shield with Chain**! It protects my monster and then equips onto it giving it 500 more ATK!" 318 yelled as the trap revealed itself and a chain soon appeared and blocked the scythe which was just inches away from touching Goyo Blaster.

 **Goyo Blaster ATK: 1600 + 500 = 2100**

"318 has managed to defend his monster and increase its ATK! How will the fugitive counter?" Melissa said.

"Fine! I'll just attack it instead! Reaper change of plans! Attack the piece of scrap metal! Eternal Frozen Scythe!" Aurora yelled frustrated and her monster soon flew towards the blaster with its scythe glowing white with energy. It swung the scythe but only for it to get intercepted by a shield.

"Sorry, but my Shield with Chain has another effect. If my monster would be destroyed I can destroy this card instead" Explained 318 as the shield disappeared.

"Maybe, but you still take damage! Enjoy a taste of your own medicine ya prick!" Aurora yelled and 318 was soon hit with shockwaves from the attack.

 **Duel Chaser 318: 4000 – 400 = 3600**

 **Goyo Blaster ATK: 2100 – 500 = 1600**

"I set two cards and end my turn!" Aurora growled angrily and you did not want to see her angry.

 **Aurora Hand: 3**

"It is my turn! Draw!" 318 yelled.

 **TURN: 3 Duel Chaser 318 Hand: 3**

"First I'll use Monster Reborn to resurrect Jutte Fighter," said 318. The graveyard portal opened up at the small warrior climbed out.

 **Jutte Fighter: Level 2/EARTH/Warrior/Tuner/700 ATK/900 DEF**

"Next I special summon Kiribi Lady from my hand." A small girl holding two rocks in both hands appeared. She gave a small giggle as she hovered next to Jutte Fighter.

 **Kiribi Lady: Level 1/FIRE/Warrior/100 ATK/100 DEF**

"Now I tune my level 2 Jutte Fighter and my level 1 Kiribi Lady" 318 yelled and Jutte Fighter turned into two Synchro rings with Kiribi Lady flying into them. A flash of light shot through the portal.

"Feel the power of the law! Synchro summon! Level 3! Goyo Defender!" The small monster that appeared bared a large shield wore a white mask with red marks on it and was ready to battle.

 **Goyo Defender: Level 3/EARTH/Warrior/Synchro/1000 ATK/1000 DEF**

"Since the only monsters I control are Earth Warrior-type Synchro monsters, I can summon two more from my extra deck!" 318 yelled and soon two more copies of the small synchro appeared.

 **Goyo Defender: Level 3/EARTH/Warrior/Synchro/1000 ATK/1000 DEF X2**

"Don't bother attacking them because if you do their attack will become equal the number of Earth Warrior-type Synchro's I have on my field so just give up already!" yelled 318.

"The duel chaser has swarmed the field with more monsters backing the fugitive into a corner! What will she do?"

"I'm not going to give up!" Aurora shouted taking everyone by surprise. "Do you really think that a pathetic insect like you can push me around?" Aurora said. "You can't, and do you want to know why? People like you think you're strong but in reality, you're weak! And now I'll show you by kicking your ass and sending you crawling back to the man who sent you here!"

Silence filled the air and 318 then exploded with anger. "You little bitch!" He yelled, his anger clearly showing. "How dare you call me weak!" He yelled. "I use the effect of Goyo Blaster!" He snarled. "I banish Jutte Fighter to deal you its 900 ATK as damage!" Jutte fighter soon appeared and transformed into yellow energy before being loaded into Goyo Blasters cannons. Goyo blaster fired at Aurora.

"Trap open! **Aurora Guard**! Now since I control an Arctic monster I take no more damage!" Soon a barrier which appeared to be made of the northern lights surrounded Aurora and blocked the energy blast.

"What!?" Cried 318 in disbelief.

"The fugitive has managed to find a way to stop Goyo Blaster's effect! Could this be the start of a comeback?" narrated Melissa.

"I play the spell **Synchro Fountain**! I draw one card for every synchro monster on the field! So since these five I draw five cards!" Yelled 318

"318 has managed to refill his hand!" exclaimed Melissa.

"I set two cards and end my turn," said 318 as the face downs appeared. "You're done for."

 **Duel Chaser 318 Hand: 3**

"I'm not out yet! My turn! DRAW!" Aurora yelled drawing her card hard as possible.

 **TURN: 4 Aurora Hand: 4**

"Now I use my Reapers effect to destroy your Goyo Blaster!" the Reaper flew towards Goyo Blaster, this time hoping to destroy the thing.

"I negate that effect with Breakthrough Skill!" Countered 318 and the trap shot a ray of white energy at Artic Reaper, causing to groan as it was stopped.

"I summon **Arctic Princess**!" Called Aurora and a girl who looked about 19 appeared, wearing ice blue armour and carrying a large sword. She had blonde hair and green eyes and smiled warmly at 318.

 **Arctic Princess: Level 1/WATER/Warrior/100 ATK/1100 DEF**

"And when she's summoned she can summon one Arctic monster from my hand or Graveyard! I think I'll summon my Arctic Bear from my graveyard!" The familiar bear soon appeared and knelt in his majesty's presence. Arctic Princess walked over to the bear and began stroking him gently.

 **Arctic Bear: Level 4/WATER/Beast/1600 ATK/1400 DEF**

"Now I'll use the spell **Aurora of Rebirth**! This allows me to summon one Arctic monster form my graveyard! I choose my Arctic wolf!" The same white wolf appeared letting out a loud howl.

 **Arctic Wolf: Level 2/WATER/Beast/Tuner/200 ATK/1800 DEF**

"Amazing! The fugitive has managed to fill her field with monsters!" Melissa exclaimed.

"I'm just getting warmed up!" Yelled Aurora. "I tune my level 2 wolf, level 4 bear and level 1 princess!" Artic Wolf soon flew up towards the sky and became 2 Synchro rings which Princess and Bear flew into before there was a white flash. "Warrior sealed away in chains, I call upon you to break free from your prison and aid me in this fight! Feel the power of the cross! Synchro summon! Arise, level 7! **Cross Zexrax, the Synchronized Warrior**!" This monster was a large humanoid dragon covered in white mechanical armour. It didn't seem to have a right arm made of flesh and bone. Its right arm was robotic with a blue X at the end instead of a hand. It had a large yellow X that went across its chest and its wings seemed to be made of a blue energy.

 **Cross Zexrax, the Synchronized Warrior: Level 7/LIGHT/Dragon/Synchro/2800 ATK/2200 DEF**

"Cross Zexrax's effect now activates!" Yelled Aurora. "Now all monsters lose their effects except him! Suppression Stream!" Zexrax roared and fired a yellow X-shaped beam out of the X on its chest. It hit every monster and they all groaned in pain as they lost their effects.

"My monsters!" Cried 318.

"But here's the cherry on top! Zexrax gains 400 ATK for each of your monsters that had its effects negated until the end of the turn!" Aurora explained. Zexrax roared loudly, pleased that its strength was growing.

 **Zexrax ATK: 2800 + 1600 = 4400**

"4400 ATK!" Exclaimed 318.

"Battle Phase! Zexrax! Annihilate Goyo Defender! Cross Fist!" Zexrax let out a roar and flew towards Goyo Defender, its X on its right arm glowing blue.

"Nice try!" Laughed 318. "Trap activate! Magic Cylinder! Now you take damage equal to your monsters ATK!" The trap, however, didn't activate. "What gives?" said 318.

"Too bad for you" Aurora teased. "Zexrax is unaffected by traps!"

Zexrax swung the X into Goyo Defender and the Synchro monster screamed as it was vaporised. Shockwaves shook 318's D-Wheel as he took a large amount of damage.

 **Duel Chaser 318: 3600 – 3400 = 200**

"Now for Zexrax's other effect! So you take 300 points of damage!" Aurora yelled.

"Say what?!" Exclaimed 318 as he was then hit by a blue energy blast from Zexrax, causing him to lose the duel.

 **Duel Chaser 318: 200 – 300 = 0**

 **Duel Chaser 318: LOSE**

Steam erupted from 318's D-wheel in and attempt to slow him down. Aurora rode ahead of 318 and looked at the camera in the helicopter. "See folks, I told you no one can push me around!" she yelled before riding off into the night. After she had left the scene and was back in the commons, she stopped and sighed. What would Trudge say to her? He'd probably scold her for swearing, but it wasn't her fault she had anger issues. Aurora sighed and rode home, awaiting her punishment that she would get.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Heartland, a duel was taking place. A member of "The Pack" had foolishly challenged a boy and he was now going to pay the price. The boy had red eyes and red hair with blue bangs that went down to his shoulders. The boy wore a red T-shirt with pictures of various treasures on it such as crowns and gold coins, brown cargo trousers and blue shoes. He also wore various coloured wristbands on his arms.

 **Current status of duel:**

 **Boy: 4000**

 **VS**

 **Man: 700**

 **Man's field:**

 **Diamond Dire Wolf: Rank 4/EARTH/Beast/Xyz/2000 ATK/1200 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS: 2 (Currently affected by fiendish chain)**

 **Boy's field:**

 **Heraldic Beast Eale: Level 4/EARTH/Beast/1000 ATK/1800 DEF**

 **Heraldic Beast Amphisbaena: Level 4/WIND/Dragon/1700 ATK/1100 DEF**

 **Fiendish chain face up (Currently targeting opponents Diamond Dire Wolf)**

"It was fun while it lasted but it's about time I end this duel," said the boy. "I overlay both my Heraldic Beasts to construct the overlay network!" Yelled the boy and both his monsters turned into energy and became the colour of their attributes, Eale orange and Amphisbaena green. A Xyz portal opened up and both monsters flew in. "Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Zexrax!"

The man gasped as a dark shadow with green eyes and a rugged cape leaped out of the portal. The next thing the man new was that the head of his wolf was on the floor and his life points at 0. The boy deactivated his new solid vision duel disk and walked off. As he walked, he looked at the card that he had just used. "Zexrax" he murmured with curiosity before walking into the darkness of the night.

* * *

In a dark area, a humanoid shadow figure stood alone. It felt a jolt of energy surge through its body for a split second and then disappear. Another jolt shot through it and the figure smiled.

" _So…two of them has appeared…and seemed to have evolved as well. In need to up my game then"_

The figure then snapped its fingers and Ryu suddenly appeared with a small "poof."

" _What do you want now?"_

" _Well it's obvious isn't it…you felt it as well, the surge of energy"_

" _Yeah, what was that about?"_

" _We may hate each other but I think we can work out some sort of agreement"_

" _What kind of agreement?"_

" _I'll help you and you help me kind of thing"_

Ryu looked at the shadow and thought hard. Helping this thing would be a bad idea, but then again something told him he had to…but why?

" _No deal"_

The shadow grinned. This boy had just made a huge mistake crossing him.

" _I wish it hadn't come to this boy, but you give me no choice"_

" _What are you-"_ Before Ryu could finish the figure snapped its fingers again and the original Zexrax appeared in front of them. Shadows soon latched on to Zexrax and it cried out in pain as its body changed. Ryu gripped his heart as he could feel the pain the dragon was feeling. The shadows dispersed and the new form of the dragon was revealed. This new dragon was a black/grey scaled with black armour that was covered with green gems and a few chains. Its right hand was still the same with Dragunity Darkspear although it looked a lot more menacing with sharper teeth and a sharper blade to boot. Its tail was black with a gold trident on the end. Its face was covered in scars and it had red eyes.

" _Woah"_

" _Impressive right? Now watch this!"_

Shadows leapt from the dragon and wrapped around Ryu. The dragon disappeared and turned into shadows that enveloped Ryu causing him to scream.

" _That's it! Embrace the power! Don't reject it!"_

The shadows left Ryu leaving him with new clothes and a new hairstyle. Ryu now wore a red long sleeve top with a black T-shirt on top of it. The T-shirt had a white X on it and the tips of the sleeves where white. He wore black jeans and white and red shoes. Other features included black fingerless gloves, Kneepads that were silver and red with a spike in the middle of each one and lastly the same red scarf he had gotten from Ruri. Ryu's hair was spiked at the back and came down at the front (Like Yuya's hair). His hair was now black with red highlights. Ryu looked at the figure with surprise.

" _What did you do to me? And what's with this outfit?"_

" _You and Zexrax have now, how do I say…fused"_

" _What do you mean fused?"_

" _You will find out in due time boy. Now time for you to go hunting"_

Ryu soon woke with a fright as he shot up from the bed he was laying in and looked around him. "It's ok kid," said a voice and Ryu looked over to see none other than Ryoga "Shark" Kamishiro sitting in a chair watching the movie Jaws on a television screen. Ryu looked at the television screen just in time to see chief Brody say "Smile you son of a…" before blowing the shark to pieces. "I always hated that bit" Shark growled.

"Shark, what are you doing here?" Ryu asked, surprised to see the circuit champion in his hospital room…wait! He was in a hospital?!

"I came here to look after her," Shark said as he pointed to Rei who was upset due to the movies ending.

"That poor shark" she murmured sadly before noticing Ryu. "Oh! Hi Ryu" she said, her mood changing dramatically from sad to happy.

"Hi" replied Ryu who was still shaken up from the dream. "What happened to us?" he asked.

"Well, what happened was that Rei's powers decided to kick in during your little duel. However we told everyone else that a bomb went off in the park and you two escaped with minor injuries."

"Ok then...wait what do you mean powers?" Ryu asked loudly and Shark clamped his hand over his mouth to shut him up.

"shhh! Not so loud! We can't let anyone know about that!" Shark exclaimed in a whisper. Rei looked down guiltily.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I should have told you."

"It's alright" replied Ryu. "Now tell me more about these powers."

"Well ever since I picked her up off the streets, Rei has been able to harm people during a duel and cause devastating damage. The other week she nearly killed my friend Misael in one of her practice duels."

"Intense," Ryu said.

"That's why I'm not allowed to duel other kids," Rei said sadly.

"We can't let anyone know because what would people do if they found out a girl could harm people during duels," said Shark.

"Yeah, I guess your right" replied Ryu. He thought about telling Rei about his powers, but then decided against it.

Shark then got up. "Don't feel bad Rei, you've almost got control of them, just a little more practice and you'll be fine. I've got some business now that I need to take care of so I have to go. If you need me then ring Alito on his mobile ok." Rei nodded and Shark gave his final goodbyes to the two teens before exiting the room. Once he shut the door, he walked down the busy hallway full of doctors and nurses tending to their duties. As he walked, his mind began to wonder.

" _Why did that kid's hair change colour during his sleep? I need to tell V about this."_

 _Cards made by me_

 **Jutte Blockade: Level 3/EARTH/Warrior/0 ATK/ 2000 DEF**

 _Effect: If you control a Jutte monster, you can special summon this card from your hand. You can only special summon one Jutte Blockade per turn._

 **Goyo Blaster: Level 5/EARTH/Warrior/Synchro/1600 ATK/2400 DEF**

 _Effect: 1 tuner + 1 or more non-tuners_

 _You can only control one Goyo Blaster. Once per turn you can banish one Earth Warrior-Type monster from your graveyard and inflict damage to your opponent equal to either its ATK or DEF (Which ever one is higher)._

 **Arctic Bear: Level 4/WATER/Beast/1600 ATK/1400 DEF**

 _Effect: You can only normal summon one Arctic Bear per turn. When this card is normal summoned, special summon one level 3 or lower Arctic monster from you deck. You can banish this card from your graveyard to add one Arctic monster from your graveyard or banished zone to your hand. You can only use this effect of Arctic Bear once per turn._

 **Arctic Wolf: Level 2/WATER/Beast/Tuner/200 ATK/1800 DEF**

 _Effect: If you control an Arctic monster other than Arctic Wolf, you can special summon this card from your hand. During the damage step when an opponent's monster attacks an Arctic monster you control, you can banish this card from your graveyard to halve the attacking monsters ATK._

 **Shield with Chain**

 _Trap_

 _Effect: You can only activate this card when a monster you control would be destroyed by battle or a card effect, negate that destruction and equip this card onto that monster. The equipped monster gains 500 ATK. If the equipped monster would be destroyed, you can send this card to the graveyard instead._

 **Arctic Reaper: Level 6/WATER/Fiend/Synchro/2500 ATK/1400 DEF**

 _Effect: 1 Arctic tuner + 1 or more non-tuner monsters_

 _Once per turn you can target one monster your opponent controls, destroy it and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to half its original ATK. This card cannot attack directly the turn you use this effect._

 **Aurora Guard**

 _Continuous Trap_

 _Effect: Activate only is you were to take damage by a card effect while you control an Arctic monster. Target that monster and you take no damage from that effect. While this card is face-up on the field, you take no effect damage. If the target leaves the field then destroy this card. You can only control one Aurora guard._

 **Synchro Fountain**

 _Spell_

 _Effect: Draw one card for every face-up Synchro monster on the field._

 **Arctic Princess: Level 1/WATER/Warrior/100 ATK/1100 DEF**

 _Effect: When this card is normal summoned, you can special summon one Artic monster from your hand or graveyard. While you control another Artic monster, this card cannot be targeted._

 **Aurora of Rebirth**

 _Spell_

 _Effect: Special summon one Arctic monster from your graveyard._

 **Cross Zexrax, the Synchronized Warrior: Level 7/LIGHT/Dragon/Synchro/2800 ATK/2200 DEF**

 _Effect: 1 tuner + 1 or more non-tuners_

 _When this card is Synchro summoned, negate the effects of all face-up monsters on the field, then this card gains 400 ATK for each of your opponent's monsters who had their effects negated. These effects last until the end or the turn. This cards effects cannot be negated by monster effects. This card is unaffected by trap cards. When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, inflict 300 points of damage to your opponent._

 **Unknown Zexrax Xyz monster: Rank ?/?/?/Xyz/? ATK/? DEF**

 _Effect: UNKNOWN_

* * *

 **And so the plot thickens XD. I am actually enjoying this now. Before you ask, no, Ryu does not have any dimensional counterparts whatsoever. Zexrax, on the other hand, I can't vouch for, but that will leave you wondering, why does Zexrax have counterparts and who are Aurora and that mysterious boy with the heraldic beasts? All will be answered soon. If you like this chapter then leave a review why and I'll see you in the next update.**


	7. Chapter 5

**Here I am! I am not dead XD but I have another chapter that is sure to peak you interests. Now before I begin I need to say a few things. Firstly, I am uploading two chapters in a row as it is a special occasion. What is it? Well it's my birthday!... well it was in May but I have been so caught up with things that I haven't been able to update but I have here now! Secondly, I know that Kaito and Alexis have returned in the anime and in this story Alexis is interpreted to be older than she is going to probably be in the anime. I am just going to continue this story without Alexis in it as I can't be bothered to go back and rewrite it all due to an age change. As usual, I only own my OC's and cards.**

Chapter 5: Preparation and Relaxation

The moon was out full as Shark rode along the dark streets of Heartland, dreading these next few moments of his life. If all went wrong then they were completely screwed, and Shark was not going to let that happen on his watch. Shark cruised through the streets until he came to an abandoned construction site. The company who had owned the site had planned to build a set of offices there, but had run out of money for it and abandoned the project. Now all that was left there was the skeletal body of the building that was set to be knocked down in a few months. A few floors were intact and graffiti covered the walls. This was the perfect meeting place.

Shark parked his motorcycle next to the site and hopped off. He then proceeded to the elevator that the construction workers had used and it was thankfully still in operation. He had just pressed the button when he heard someone call out his name. Shark turned around to see the stranger only to regret looking at him. This stranger was all too familiar. The familiar figure was about 21 years old with a long, cross-like scar running down the right side of his face and a purple tattoo on the back of his right hand which resembled fire and lightning. He had large, spiky layered dark red and yellow hair. The clothes he wore were a medieval style that consisted of a long flowing coat with white pants, boots and a shirt which all featured a curly, high-class pattern. IV looked the same as he did all those years ago, only a bit taller, though.

IV ran into the elevator next to Shark and pressed the button for the top floor. As the elevator rose, the two dueling prodigies looked away from each other. IV whistled awkwardly before speaking. "Congrats on your win in the Circuit Championship," he said.

"It's no big deal" Shark gruffly replied. The elevator soon reached the top floor and the doors opened revealing two men. The taller one was about 19 and had long blonde hair that had a wing shaped extension. He wore a long golden earring which was attached to the left side of his hair. He also had red markings on his cheeks and above his eyes. His choice of clothing was a pair of white pants and a white, long-sleeved shirt underneath a grey vest with long grey gloves, both of which had wings.

The smaller one was somewhere between 17 and 18, had purple eyes with black outlines and bulbous spiked hair that was coloured orange. He wore light blue jeans and a plain white T-shirt.

"You're late," said Vector, clearly annoyed.

"It's not my fault that I have Rei to look after. You try looking after her for once" Shark replied angrily.

"Were still waiting on someone?" Misael said calmly.

The elevator then descended after Shark and IV got out, and soon rose back up with another man inside. This man was 19 and had long pink hair and emerald green eyes. On the back of his right hand just like IV was a tattoo, except this one, was a flower and was coloured green. The clothes he wore were that of a medieval style like IV's but sported brighter colours such as red and white opposed to VI's white. As III walked out he gave a loving and warm smile to everyone.

"Alright! Everyone's here! Time to get started" said Vector while cracking his knuckles and walking in front of everyone. Vector then pulled out a little cylinder like device with a small light on it from his pocket and placed it on the ground. He then pressed it and the light began flashing blue before Vector jumped back as the space around the device was ripped open, revealing a blue and green tunnel like area. The five stood and waited for a small while before they heard the sound of footsteps from inside the portal. Three figures then walked out of it, one female and two males. An 18-year-old which was Rio Kamishiro gripped IV in a hug before sharing a kiss with him, much to Sharks annoyance. The two were soon broke up by an "ahem" which came from one of the male figures. This figure was none other than 18-year-old Kaito Tenjo. Kaito wore the same black trench coat with a high collar over a grey shirt and white pants with black boots.

"Sorry," Rio apologised. "I've just missed you soo much IV!" she said as she hugged IV again.

"I've missed you too," replied IV. This comment made Shark let out a quiet growl. The clothes Rio wore was a short blue skirt, a white jacket over a light pink shirt, black stockings, and white shoes. The left coattail of her jacket had a conch-like ornament hanging down. The third person that had come through the portal was 24 years old and had blue eyes and long, flowing silver hair with light purple fringes and one light green in the middle. The clothes he wore were the same medieval kind that IV and III wore except they were more of a darker colour with colours such as blue and white. In his hand, he carried a white briefcase.

V looked at his brothers and smiled before speaking. "III, IV, it is nice to see you again," he said in a formal tone. He then looked at Shark. "The solid vision technology was delivered to this dimension I presume?" he asked

"Yes, as you can see were wearing the new duel disks Faker assembled" Shark replied.

"How are Father and Haruto? Please, I need to know" Kaito asked him.

"Faker is fine. He's still looking after Haruto just like you wanted so you have nothing to worry about" Shark told him which relieved Kaito.

"Good, I just worry for him sometimes" Kaito replied. "Now on to other things. How is the recruitment process going?" he continued.

"Not too well" Vector answered instead of Shark. "I only found one person who gave my Umbral Horror deck a run for its money" he continued as he pressed a few buttons on his duel disk and the image of a boy with red eyes and red hair with blue bangs that came down to his shoulders appeared onscreen. "His name is Daichi, but he goes by the nickname Dai," said Vector as he showed V and Kaito the boy's details. The boy's details stated that he was 15 years old and lived at an orphanage not too far from where they were. Other details included his deck type which was a Heraldic Beast deck and he had won a few small tournaments here and there, but that was all that was known. V nodded at the details and looked at the others.

"And what about you?" he asked.

"No one at the tournaments we've been to have any skill compared to us," IV said. V then looked at Shark.

"And you Shark?"

"I, on the other hand, have found a few interesting contenders' thanks to Rei" he stated proudly. Shark then pressed a few buttons on his duel disk and the images of Ruri and Shun appeared on it with their details. "I'm sure you must know the Kurosaki siblings," Shark said and then scrolled down. "And the son of Heartlands famous card designer, Yuto," he said as the image of Yuto with his details appeared. "And last but not least, the most interesting of Rei's little band of new friends, Ryu Hankou," Shark said as he scrolled down to show V Ryu's details. "This kid managed to go head to head with Rei and almost beat her. Another thing to note is that he has almost the same powers that Rei has except more advanced" Shark explained, the last sentence catching everyone's attention.

"The same powers as Rei?" asked Kaito. "Are they somehow related to each other?"

"I have no idea if they are related to each other at all. All I know is that Rei met him a few days ago and their duel managed to awaken something, but I don't know what" Shark answered.

"Intriguing, I'll have to look into this, but keep an eye on him Shark, you as well Kaito," V said and both duelists agreed to.

"So, how did things go on your end?" asked III.

"Badly," said Rio.

"They said they didn't want to waste their troops on us and that they needed to save them for the final confrontation" explained Kaito.

"But that's stupid!" protested Vector. "Why to tell us that they're going to help us and then don't."

"Actually, we do have a way of fighting back," said V, and everyone apart from Rio and Kaito looked at him.

"They've given us enough resources to create new Xyz monsters and ways of summoning them" Kaito stated.

"What new way?" asked IV.

"Rank-Up's," said V.

"Rank-Up's? What are those?" asked Vector.

"Allow me to explain," said V and began to give a detailed explanation of what Rank-Up's were and how to summon and use them.

"So essentially, it's using a Xyz monster you control as a material to Xyz summon another Xyz monster with a higher rank," said III.

"Yes, that's correct," said Rio. V then placed the briefcase on the floor and opened it, revealing hundreds of cards in it. He took out two decks that were also stored in it and walked over to III and IV and handed them one each.

"What are these?" asked IV with a bit of confusion.

"These are your new decks, Gimmick Puppets for you and Chronomalys for III. Your old decks may be powerful but you need stronger ones if you're going to stand a chance against Academia" V explained.

"Right," said III. V then walked over to the remaining duelists and handed them a few cards each.

"I didn't forget about you guys, so here are a few cards for each of you to give your decks an extra 'kick' if you know what I mean."

"Thanks," said Misael who was now placing the cards in his deck holder. V then turned towards the portal.

"It's time, I need to go. Rio, Kaito, your work is done so you can stay here" he said before entering it. Rio looked at IV and smiled.

"Great. Now me and you have lots of " _catching up_ " to do" she said in a seductive purr.

"I'll be looking forward to that" IV replied with a sly grin before kissing her again. Shark instantly knew that he was never going to get a good nights sleep tonight.

The portal soon closed and the now seven duelists stood there in silence.

"Well, it's really happening," said Vector unhappily.

"Yeah, it is," III said and looked up to the night sky.

Shark flicked through the cards he got and soon saw there were cards for Alito, Girag, Durbe's decks as well. All of them soon rode the elevator in silence and afterwards went their separate ways. III said his farewells to his brother who went with Vector, Rio and Misael to Shark's family's mansion. III then left the site to head to his father's home while Shark and Kaito rode Sharks motorcycle to Heartland tower to drop Kaito off there.

* * *

Ryu let out a yawn as he and Rei walked out the hospital. Unfortunately, last night had been a Jaws movie marathon on the movie channel and Rei had kept Ryu awake all night by watching all the movies. Ryu's parents had also visited earlier that morning to drop off some fresh clothes and to check if he was ok. After assuring them and the doctors that he was fine, he and Rei had been released from the hospital at long last. Now that he thought about it, why did he always wear the same clothes? Ryu soon felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and got it out to see it was Shun.

 _Regretfully, can I ask u to babysit Ruri for me today while me and Yuto help Makoto set up his dad's stall for the festival? She's moaning that she's bored._

 _No problem, I'll take her around the festival for a bit, but u do know she's not two years old, she can look after herself u know._

Ryu waited for a bit and then his phone vibrated again.

 _Remember Scorch and Chills…_

Ryu sighed. Of course, Shun was still annoyed at him for getting Ruri involved with them last Monday.

 _Ok, you got me._

 _Great. We're down the street opposite the park, and don't try any funny business with her!_

Ryu's face went red at that comment. Why in the world did he have to say that?

 _What does that mean?! Whatever, I'll see u guys soon._

Ryu put his phone back in his pocket and continued his conversation with Rei."Sorry about that, Shun is just being a bit of an asshole again," he said.

"Let me guess… Ruri" replied Rei.

"Wow, however, did you know that," said Ryu sarcastically and the two teens laughed. "So tell me more about this festival that's happening," Ryu said.

"Well, today marks the day where Heartland was first founded, so everyone gets the day off and there's a huge festival where they're all sorts of games, rides and market stalls," she said.

"Sounds interesting. Do you want to walk around the festival for a bit with me and Ruri?" Ryu asked.

"Sorry, Ryoga asked me to help prepare the food for tonight. He's inviting all his friends and acquaintances over to his mansion for the festival and he even said that you guys can come over after the fireworks" Rei replied and soon saw Shark down the road on his motorcycle waiting for her. "I'll see you and the others later at the party if you come!" Rei called as she ran towards Shark. Ryu waved at her and continued walking down the street.

* * *

"Why do I have to go with him?!" yelled a frustrated Ruri. She was not happy at the fact that Shun had asked Ryu to babysit her all day.

"It's not safe and I worry about you" answered Shun who was busy setting up a table for the stall. The tent was green and yellow and was quite small.

"BUT ITS NOT FAIR!" whined Ruri. "I'm an independent girl who can look after herself thank you!"

"Look! For all, I know Scorch and Chills could ambush you and then what would happen? Remember, you and Ryu are on their wanted list and I'd rather you had protection" yelled Shun angrily. Ruri sighed in defeat. Her brother was partially right about that.

"Fine, I'll go with him," she said.

"Good," said Shun as he walked to the back of the tent that had just been set up. "But if he tries anything with you then I'll kill him."

"Hi, guys!" called out a familiar voice and the two siblings turned towards the voice to see it was Ryu running towards them.

"Hi Ryu, feeling better?" asked Ruri when he approached.

"Yeah I feel much better" replied Ryu.

"Hey, Ryu! I brought you something!" called Yuto from around the back of the tent and Ryu walked around to him.

"What did you get me?" asked Ryu and Yuto gave him a black object that resembled a D-Pad. "What's this?" Ryu asked.

"This is the new solid vision duel disk that came out a few days ago" Yuto explained.

"Solid vision?" Ryu asked.

"Basically, your monsters have a solid mass meaning you can touch them," said Ruri.

"Really? That's so cool!" said Ryu.

"We got it for you as a gift to celebrate your recovery from the hospital," said Shun.

"Thanks a lot, you guys are the best, but I'm going to take a break from dueling for a while," said Ryu.

"Really? You love dueling" Said Ruri.

"Well that last duel took a lot outta me, so I'm taking a break" Ryu answered

"Well still take it," said Yuto. Ryu smiled and put it on his wrist. He had to admit, it did look cool.

"Shun!" a voice called which was none other than Makoto. "I need you to carry a few boxes for me!" he said.

"Just coming!" Shun called back.

"You guys can do what you want for the next few hours," Shun said to Ryu and Ruri.

"Okay then," said Ryu and was about to walk off when he remembered something. "Oh! I completely forgot. Shark invited us to his mansion for a party this evening to celebrate the festival."

The others jaws dropped. "What?! How did you get an invite from Shark?" exclaimed Yuto with shock.

"Oh that's easy, Shark is Rei's guardian" Ryu answered.

"Shark is Rei's guardian?!" exclaimed Ruri.

"Yeah he visited us last night so do you guys wanna go?" he asked.

"Of course!" exclaimed Ruri. "Who wouldn't want to go?"

"Great! I'll tell Rei that your all coming" Ryu said and bid everyone farewell before walking off into the festival with Ruri.

* * *

After texting Rei to tell her that they were coming to the party, Ryu and Ruri were soon walking around the festival looking at all the different stalls that had been set up. Ryu had then explained to Ruri about Shark visiting him and Rei last night, and Rei explaining to him after Shark had left, that Shark was her guardian and took care of her.

"So Rei lives with the Circuit Champion. Huh, we have some of the strangest friends" Ruri said to Ryu.

"You don't say" he replied causing them to laugh, however, Ruri's attention was attracted to something else.

"Oh, my god! It's so fluffy!" Ruri yelled while looking at a large stuffed panda.

"You want the panda eh? Three bucks for three shots. If ya knock all the cans down, you win the panda" said the man who was behind the stall pointing to the stacked cans and balls.

"Damn it! I don't have any money" said Ruri and then looked at Ryu with a puppy eyed face.

"No," he said and Ruri widened her eyes. "I said no." Again, Ruri widened her eyes and Ryu gave in. "Fine," he said and Ruri leapt for joy as Ryu got some money out of his pocket and placed it on the counter. He could never say no to that face.

"Three balls please," he said and the man handed him three red balls.

Ryu got in a position to throw the ball and his eyes then flickered to silver. Ryu then threw the ball hard and with a loud crash it knocked all the cans down in one go. "Bullseye!" Ryu cheered as his eyes flicked back to normal.

"Jeez, that's one hell of an arm you got there kid," said the man as he handed the stuffed panda to Ryu.

"Thanks, it must be because of my sister. She's a baseball player although she's more of a batter than thrower" Ryu said as he gave Ruri the panda. After thanking the man and Running back to Shun to leave the panda with him, Ryu and Ruri continued to explore the festival and the two soon found themselves stuffing their faces with candy floss.

 _"You cheated,"_ said the demonic voice in Ryu's head.

"Well, so what?" Ryu whispered. "I just wanted to be nice to her."

" _A cheater never goes far in life"_ the Shadow replied.

Ryu then looked at Ruri and laughed as Ruri had got some candy floss on her nose. This then led to Ruri hitting him in the face. "Ow! That hurt!" yelled Ryu.

"Well don't laugh at me then," Ruri said angrily.

Ryu then stopped worrying about the pain as noticed a certain man standing in the crowd.

"Isn't that your English teacher?" Ryu asked Ruri while pointing towards the man.

"Yeah that's him," said Ruri and looked at Ryu with curiosity.

"Didn't he give you a detention for nothing the other day?" Ryu asked her.

"He did! And it wasn't even my fault! Just because my brother's got a bad reputation doesn't me I'm bad!" she said annoyed. A wicked smile then appeared on Ryu's face.

"Watch this then run," said Ryu evilly as he threw his candy floss towards the teacher. The candy floss landed in the man's hair and he gave out a cry of surprise. He turned around just in time to see two run off into the distance.

"Stop!" he yelled and gave chase to the figures

* * *

In a dark alleyway, Ryu and Ruri giggled as the teacher ran past. "I can't believe you done that!" said Ruri while laughing.

"Me too. I hope it doesn't get you in trouble, though" Ryu said.

"Don't worry about it?" Ruri said and the two stared at each other in silence. It felt like forever before Ryu spoke.

"Um, what do you want to do now?" he asked awkwardly.

"Let's walk around more for a bit and then we'll go on some rides," Ruri said, and they soon found themselves watching a magic show a few roads away. The boy who was performing had orange hair and green eyes. The clothes he wore was long-sleeved blue collared shirt with a purple tie around his neck, and an orange jacket on top of that missing the right sleeve and with a shorter coattail, as well as a black glove on his left hand, and dark pants and red shoes.

"Isn't this great?" said Ruri who was enjoying every moment of it.

"Yeah…." Said Ryu who wasn't enjoying himself as much. Then out of nowhere a clown-like figure on a trapeze, swung down and snagged Ruri from Ryu's side.

"What the heck?" she said as she landed in front of the performer who was kneeling down.

"Pardon me madam, but Trapeze Magician selected you to be the lucky one to duel me," he said as he grabbed her hand gently and kissed it.

A red blush appeared on Ruri's cheeks. "Oh, you want…to duel…me?" she stuttered. She had never had a boy kiss her before. Unfortunately, Ryu had seen everything.

"Ruri! You alright!" Ryu called out as he squirmed through the crowd to reach her.

"Oh! You must be her boyfriend. I do apologise" said the performer to him and both teens faces went redder than ever.

"Woah! You've got it all mixed up! We're only friends" Ryu said quickly. "Besides, why would I want to go out with a girl like her anyway?"

SMACK

"Idiot!" yelled Ruri who had just smacked Ryu and had a large tic mark on her red face.

"If you want to duel me then I accept," she said as she activated her black duel disk that was on her arm.

"Excellent!" said the boy with lots of enthusiasm as he activated his own duel disk. "My name is Dennis by the way."

 **DUEL!**

 **Ruri: 4000**

 **VS**

 **Dennis: 4000**

"Ladies first," said Dennis with a wink.

 _"This guy is a total creep,"_ thought Ruri as she began her turn.

 **TURN: 1 Ruri hand: 5**

"I'll start by summoning **Sky Spy – Scout Owl** in attack mode!" yelled Ruri as he loyal binocular-wearing owl appeared.

 **Sky Spy - Scout Owl: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1400 ATK/1200 DEF**

"Now for its effect! So I can now send **Sky Spy – Strike Robin** from my deck to the graveyard!" Ruri yelled as a card was slipped out of her deck into her hand and then put in the graveyard. Not long afterwards the spiritual form of Strike Robin appeared. "Now, Strike Robin's effect inflicts 800 points of damage to you since it was sent to the grave by the effect of a Sky Spy card!"

 **Sky Spy - Strike Robin: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1200 ATK/850 DEF**

"Oh no!" yelled Dennis dramatically as he was soon blasted by the bird's machine guns.

 **Dennis: 4000 – 800 = 3200**

"I set two cards and end my turn," said Ruri as the face downs appeared.

 **Ruri hand: 2**

"Nice. She managed to deal some damage and set up a good defence on her first turn. Guess those lessons at the CDS are paying off" said Ryu with admiration.

"It is now my turn! Draw!" yelled Dennis as he drew his card gracefully.

 **TURN: 2 Dennis hand: 6**

Dennis looked at the card he drew and sighed. Why couldn't he have drawn this earlier? He then looked at his hand and picked out another card to use. "First, I play the spell Burn Gift! This allows me to summon one level 4 or lower fire monster to your field" said Dennis as a black box appearedon Ruri's field.

"You're giving me a monster?" said Ruri confused.

"Yes, I am. Now I summon **Performage Firework Phoenix** to your field!"called Dennis as he threw Ruri a card which she placed on her duel disk. The box then burst into flames which revealed a large red bird with green eyes and a yellow beak. It was wearing a green top hat and strapped all over its body were fireworks of all shapes and sizes. This made Ruri feel sorry for the poor thing.

 **Performage Firework Phoenix: Level 4/FIRE/Winged Beast/1000 ATK/1500 DEF**

"Now I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy my Burn Gift," said Dennis as a tornado erupted from the card and crushed the Burn Gift into golden particles. "Now that it's gone, the monster that was summoned is destroyed and you take 400 points of damage." Ruri didn't even have time to react before the phoenix exploded into flames and showered her with it.

 **Ruri: 4000 – 400 = 3600**

" _What was the point in that? Sure he dealt me some damage but he wouldn't use that many cards just for 400 points"_ Ruri thought as she tried to figure out what his plan was.

"Now for my phoenix's effect! So when he's sent to the grave by a card effect, I can summon him back to the field!" Yelled Dennis as there were a fiery explosion and the red bird was now on his field ready to battle with Ruri's owl.

 **Performage Firework Phoenix: Level 4/FIRE/Winged Beast/1000 ATK/1500 DEF**

"The downside, however, is that I take 500 points of damage, but I got that covered thanks to my Performage Damage Juggler." The bird then turned around and fired a red and green firework at Dennis only to be blocked by a blue barrier which was being controlled by a clown-like figure. This clown wore a cape and witch's hat with three stars on it and its right eye was a gold star. Its body looked like a green pot with four yellow rings around it. The clown stuck its tongue out at Ruri in a taunting manner before disappearing.

 **Performage Damage Juggler: Level 4/LIGHT/Spellcaster/1500 ATK/1000 DEF**

"My Damage Juggler hasn't finished his act yet!" yelled Dennis. "By banishing him from my graveyard, I can add another Performage monster from my deck to my hand!" A card then slipped out of Dennis' deck and he added it to his hand.

" _This is bad. I have a feeling he has a lot more tricks up his sleeve"_ Thought Ruri and then looked at her face down cards. _"I hope my face downs can help me."_

"Since there are two monsters on the field I can special summon my Perfomage Hat Tricker from my hand!"

There was a puff of smoke and a strange looking monster appeared which Ruri looked at with curiosity. It seemed to have no physical body as if it were a ghost. All the monster consisted of was a pair of gloves, a purple witch's hat with four yellow stars on it, a green cape and a pair of orange glasses.

 **Performage Hat Tricker: Level 4/EARTH/Spellcaster/1100 ATK/1100 DEF**

"Now he has two level fours" murmured Ryu while Ruri gritted her teeth.

"I now overlay my level four Hat Tricker and level four Phoenix!" yelled Dennis as Hat Tricker glowed orange and flew into the air while Phoenix turned red and flew into the air as well. A Xyz portal opened up in front of Dennis and both monsters flew in. "The show must go on!" exclaimed Dennis as a wand flew up into the air in a dark area and turned into a trapeze which a purple figure grabbed onto. "Artisan of the air, swing across the stage with grace! Xyz, summon! Appear now! Rank 4! Perfomage Trapeze Magician!" chanted Dennis.

Out of the portal swung the purple figure on the trapeze and the purple then dispersed, revealing the monster. The monster wore a white clown costume with gold and green highlights. It also wore a red and white mask to cover its face, along with a red cape attached to its back. As it touched the ground the yellow energy ropes that were attached to the trapeze detached themselves and it held the trapeze as if it were a wand.

 **Performage Trapeze Magician: Rank 4/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Xyz/2500 ATK/2000 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS 2**

Ruri stared at the Xyz monster, she had predicted he would Xyz summon, but now she was up against a monster she had never seen before. "I use my magician's effect! So by using one overlay unit it can attack twice this turn!" said Dennis as his monster absorbed one of its overlay units into its wand.

 **Trapeze Magician OVERLAY UNITS: 1**

"Twice?!" exclaimed Ruri, she hadn't been expecting that.

"Now my magician! Attack her Scout Owl!" yelled Dennis as Trapeze Magician laughed eerily before it held its purple wand up into the air above its head. The two yellow energy ropes then came down out of the sky and attached to the wand so it would become a trapeze again. Trapeze Magician then swung back and then charged at Ruri's bird who gave a look of horror at its impending doom.

"You just walked right into my trap! **Storm Barrier**! This card negates your attack and summons a Sky Spy monster from my graveyard! So I summon Sky Spy – Strike Robin to the field!"

Before Trapeze Magician could touch Scout Owl, Scout Owl was covered with a barrier that was made of wind which blocked the attack. The barrier then transformed into a raging tornado that blew across the field and disappeared, leaving Ruri's weaponized bird there and it was ready to do battle with the white magician.

 **Sky Spy - Strike Robin: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1200 ATK/850 DEF**

"Now due to the effect of my barrier, you have to attack my robin," said Ruri with a smirk.

"Fine then. Trapeze Magician! Attack her Strike Robin now!" Yelled Dennis. The Magician then swung again on its trapeze and headed straight for Ruri's bird.

"I activate my Robin's effect! So now your magician is treated as a Sky Spy monster and you take 800 points of damage!" Ruri yelled as her bird flapped its wings and blew a gust of wind towards Trapeze Magician. The wind hit the magician and a green aura glowed around him.

"My God!" Dennis exclaimed as he raised his hand in a defensive stance and the wind hit him and sent him backwards.

 **Dennis: 3200 – 800 = 2400**

Trapeze Magician swung into Strike Robin with its feet and caused a large explosion. This explosion sent Ruri flying backwards.

"NO!" Ryu yelled as she hit the ground hard.

 **Ruri: 3600 – 1300 = 2300**

Struggling, Ruri got up slowly and looked at Ryu and smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm fine?" she said to Ryu and looked back at Dennis. "Now for my Robin to get a little payback. You see when he's destroyed by a Sky Spy monster he hits you with another 800 points." The spiritual form of Strike Robin rose up out the ground and fired its guns at Dennis.

"Not again!" Dennis yelled as he covered himself as the bullets hit him.

 **Dennis: 2400 – 800 = 1600**

"Wow, you're a feisty one" Dennis complimented. Ruri blushed at the remark while Ryu was gritting his teeth.

" _You do know it's not good to be jealous"_ the shadow in Ryu's head hissed. Ryu let out a small laugh that no one heard.

 _"I'm not jealous,"_ he thought quickly. _"I just…erm… don't…don't like…the way he speaks to her. Yeah, that. He needs to learn some respect"_ He thought and then sighed with relief.

" _Sure"_ the shadow hissed, not believing a single word.

"I can't do anything else so I'll set a card and end my turn," said Dennis as the facedown appeared.

 **Dennis hand: 1**

"My turn then! Draw!" Ruri yelled.

 **TURN: 3 Ruri hand: 3**

Ruri looked at her options that she had in her hand. she facedown was useless to her for the moment, so she couldn't use that. Ruri then looked at her hand and then Dennis' set card, if it was something like Solemn Warning then she would be in a lot of trouble.

 _"Here goes nothing,"_ she thought and grabbed a monster. "I summon **Sky Spy – Armoured Eagle**!" She yelled as she placed the monster on her duel disk. A bird's cry was heard and everyone looked up to see a figure in the sky. The figure swooped down and landed next to Scout Owl. It was a huge bald eagle, covered in silver armour with sharp talons that could take a limb off easily. It let out a defiant cry as it prepared for battle with the magician.

 **Sky Spy – Armoured Eagle: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1500 ATK/1200 DEF**

"Now for his effect! So say bye bye to your set card!" Ruri said as she sent a Sky Spy from her deck to the graveyard. The new monster let out a cry as it flapped its gigantic wings and lifted off in the air. The beast then charged at the set card and crushed it with its talons.

"NO!" Cried Dennis, his chance of victory had just been destroyed and now he was at the mercy of Ruri's birds.

"I now draw a card since I sent **Sky Spy – Back-up Budgie** to the grave" Ruri said as she drew another card. "I overlay both my monsters to construct the overlay network!" Ruri yelled as both her monsters turned into green energy before shooting up into the air. A Xyz portal opened and both monsters flew inside. A light soon shot out of the portal into the sky. "Embodiment of thunder and lightning, use the powers gifted to you to destroy all who opposes me!" Ruri chanted as storm clouds soon covered the sky above the duel. Ryu smiled as he recognised the familiar chant. "Xyz summon! Descend from the sky rank 4! Lightning Chidori!" The thunderbird soon descended from the clouds in all its glory.

 **Lightning Chidori: Rank 4/WIND/Thunder/Xyz/1900 ATK/1600 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS 2**

Dennis stared at the monster that had been summoned. It didn't look like much of a threat for Yuri and he had completed his mission with success.

"I now activate my Chidori's effect! So by using an overlay unit, your monster returns to the top of your deck!" Ruri yelled as Chidori absorbed one of its overlay units into its chest and sent its Lightning Gust attack towards Trapeze Magician. Trapeze Magician was shocked by the lightning and then returned to card form.

 **Lightning Chidori OVERLAY UNITS: 1**

"My Magician!" Dennis yelled in despair as he placed the card back into his extra deck.

"Now Chidori! Attack him directly! Thunder Punisher!" Ruri yelled and the giant bird sent a bolt of lightning at Dennis. Dennis cried out as the lightning hit him and fell backwards.

 **Dennis: 1600 – 1900 = 0**

 **Dennis: LOSE**

Ruri smiled as she deactivated her duel disk and walked over to Dennis.

"Nice try," she said as she held her hand down towards him. Dennis grabbed hold of Ruri's hand as she helped him up.

"Ah, you have beaten me. Please accept this gift as proof of your victory" Dennis said as he clapped his hands. There was a flash of pink smoke which soon disappeared revealing a bouquet of roses in Dennis' hands. He handed them to Ruri who was blushing like mad.

"Thank you," she said as she held them. "You know" She continued "You remind me of Yusho Sakaki."

"Well I do aspire to become like him" Dennis replied. And walked back over to his table where he did his magic tricks. "Ladies and gentlemen! I shall continue to show in a few short moments!" he called to the crowd.

"Come on, let's go," Ryu said annoyed as he walked up to Ruri. "I hate magic shows," he said as he began to walk off.

"Ok," said Ruri who was following him and was also confused as to why Ryu was so angry.

Little did they both know that a boy with dark blue hair and gold eyes had been watching them very closely. He wore a black cardigan with navy blue sleeves and a blue T-shirt with yellow patterns on it underneath and black trousers. As he walked way he thought about the past few days. He was just sitting in his room in Ritual when his dragon started glowing and the next thing he knew was that he was flying towards some trash cans in a dark alleyway.

He had woken up the next day to find himself in an unknown city with no way to get home. Unfortunately, he had to resort to stealing in order to get food and water which had almost gotten him in trouble with the police.

As he walked, he took out a blue-bordered card and looked at it as the glowing died down. Every time he got near that girl or that boy it would begin to glow.

"Mirage Armour…why did you bring me here?" he asked the card. He then felt a hand tap on his shoulder and he whirled around to see Kaito Tenjo standing in front of him.

"We need to talk, now," Kaito said in a serious manner.

* * *

A crowd had gathered in the courtyard of Academia to watch the duel that was going on. A Ra yellow student stood on one side with a serpent-like dragon that was a pinkish white in colour and was covered in a magical, yellow, lightning type of energy. Opposite him was a young boy about the age of 15 who had nothing on his field. He had purple eyes and black hair with white bangs and wore a black and purple officers uniform similar to Yuri's. Kai smiled as he knew the Ra students time was up.

 **Current status of duel:**

 **Ra Yellow Student: 1900**

 **VS**

 **Kai: 3500**

 **Ra Yellows field:**

 **Divine Dragon Ragnarok: Level 4/LIGHT/Dragon/1500 ATK/1000 DEF**

 **Kai's Field:**

 **Nothing**

"Absolutely Pathetic,not a single decent challenge. You're the only one who actually dealt me any damage today" Kai said disappointedly. He then picked a card from his hand. "Polymerization active," He said lazily as he picked two monsters from his hand and tossed them in the graveyard. The fusion background appeared and the two monsters rose up. The first was a little purple demon wearing torn clothing and shoulder pads with gold spikes on it. It also had very sharp teeth and long claws that could take a head off with one swipe.

 **Violet Hunter – Trick or Treat: Level 4/DARK/Fiend/1500 ATK/500 DEF**

The other monster was the armour of a knight that had many parts missing (Most notably the helmet) and looked like it had been abandoned for centuries. It was covered in dust and had vines growing on it.

 **Violet Hunter – Forgotten Armour: Level 3/DARK/Fiend/800 ATK/300 DEF**

Trick or Treat then glowed red while forgotten armour glowed blue. The two monsters began to swirl in the vortex behind them while Kai began chanting.

"Creature of night, fuse with the armour of the old and give birth to a true nightmare! Fusion summon! Appear angel of anarchy, banished from the realm of light! Level 6! **Violet Hunter – Fallen Angel**!"

There was a bright light and a monster soon emerged out of it. It was an angel but she had an evil look to her. She wore black robes that appeared to be made of silk and exposed her belly. Her wings were black as a sign of her betrayal and her hair was grey. She had blood red eyes and carried a large black scythe that looked too heavy for her to carry. She giggled as she slowly floated down beside Kai.

 **Violet Hunter – Fallen Angel: Level 6/DARK/Fiend/Fusion/2200 ATK/2100 DEF**

"Now my Violet Hunters effects activate," Kai said as the ghostly forms of Trick or Treat and Forgotten Armour rose up behind him, covered in darkness.

"First, Trick or Treat will deal you 800 points of damage" Kai continued. The monster laughed and flew over to the Ra Yellow student and enveloped him while he screamed in pain.

 **Ra Yellow Student: 1900 – 800 = 1100**

"Now Forgotten Armour will give Fallen Angel 500 more attack points," Kai said as the ghostly armour enveloped the dark angel, and she laughed as her attack points went up.

 **Fallen Angel ATK: 2200 + 500 = 2700**

"Battle! Fallen Angel attack Divine Dragon Ragnarok! Angelic Reaping!" The dark angel then charged forward and raised her scythe. She then brought it down on the mystic dragon and it screamed in pain. Kai smiled at the sound of the scream. The force of the attack sent the Ra student flying backwards into the crowd.

 **Ra Yellow Student: 1100 – 1200 = 0**

 **Ra Yellow Student: LOSE**

"Not bad" Kenta commented who was watching from one of the corridors on the second floor that overlooked the courtyard. With him were Kat and Bruce.

"Pfft! I could beat him without breaking a sweat" Kat boasted.

"You said that to me when we first met, yet I thrashed you," Bruce said to her.

"Hey! I had a bad hand!" she yelled at him.

"Sure," Bruce said sarcastically.

"Well I-" Kat began before she was cut off by Kenta.

"Shut up! I'm trying to listen" he hissed at them. Kat replied by giving him the finger.

Kai deactivated his duel disk and began walking towards the student.

"To the victor go the spoils," Kai said darkly.

"Please! Don't!" the student begged but his pleas fell on deaf ears as Kai picked him up by the collar and kissed him on the lips. The student began freaking out but soon began to drowsy and could barely move. It was he was falling asleep. Kat, Bruce and Kenta stared at them confused and shocked.

"This is…interesting" was all Kenta could say.

A sickly sweet taste soon entered the students mouth and he began to freak out again.

Kai then broke off the kiss and left the student on the floor choking. The student then swallowed and looked a Kai with a shocked and confused look.

"What the hell!" he roared at Kai. Kai just smiled at him.

"Give it a moment" Kai stared and the student looked at him confused for a moment before he began thrashing around on the ground, screaming in pain. Kai's smile grew even wider. It was music to his ears. He then turned and walked off, leaving the student to have his friends escort him to the medical room.

He soon reached the hallway which had rooms where only the elite stayed when he heard a voice say "That was a good show you put on today." Kai turned to the source to see it was Yuri standing there.

"Yuri! You watched my duels didn't you?" he asked.

Yuri nodded in response.

"You're getting better each time," he said.

"Thank you, although I wish I could have a challenge for a change" Kai replied.

"You left that boy quite a state" Yuri said.

"I know, although I do wonder if there is anyone out there who isn't affected by my poison," he said licking his lips.

"Me too" Yuri answered. "I'm heading to my room, want to come?" he asked.

"Sure" Kai answered and began to follow Yuri.

Yuri and Kai soon reached Yuri's room. They opened the door and immediately you could see that the whole place was full of plants. They were on the floor, stacked on shelves and there was even on growing on his bed stand.

"Thanks for those Violet cards, they really helped me and this new deck out," Yuri said as he shuffled his deck.

"No problem. I'm just glad to help a friend out" Kai replied as he picked up a plant pot that had a small purple flower growing in it. "You don't mind if I take this as a sort of…repayment?" he asked.

"Not at all," said Yuri who had just put his deck away. A loud alarm was then heard signalling that it was time for dinner and all students must head to the cafeteria.

"You coming?" Kai asked. Yuri shook his head.

"No, I need to water my plants," he said and walked over to a tap that had been built in his room.

"Suit yourself," said Kai and walked out the room with the plant pot. As he walked, he licked a sweet pink liquid off his face that had begun to ooze out of the side of his mouth.

 _Cards made by me_

 **Sky spy - Strike Robin: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1200 ATK/850 DEF**

 _Effect: If this card is targeted for an attack target the attacking monster, it is treated as a Sky spy monster, then inflict 800 points of damage to your opponent. That monster must attack this card. If this card is destroyed by battle by a Sky spy monster or sent to the graveyard by the effect of a Sky spy card, inflict 800 points of damage to your opponent. You can only use each effect of Sky spy - Strike_

 **Sky spy - Scout Owl: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1400 ATK/1200 DEF**

 _Effect: When this card is normal or special summoned activate one of these effects:_

 _Add one Sky spy monster from your deck to your hand._

 _Send one Sky spy monster from your deck to your graveyard._

 _You can only use one Sky spy-Scout Owl effect once per turn._

 **Performage Firework Phoenix: Level 4/FIRE/Winged Beast/1000 ATK/1500 DEF**

 _Effect: If this card is sent to the graveyard by a card_

 _effect you can special summon this card from your graveyard, then you take 500 points of damage._

 **Storm Barrier**

 _Trap_

 _Effect: Activate when your opponent attacks a Sky spy monster you control. Negate that attack and then_

 _special summon one Sky spy monster from your graveyard. Your opponent can only target that monster for attacks. You can only activate one Storm Barrier per turn._

 **Sky Spy – Armoured Eagle: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/1500 ATK/1200 DEF**

 _Effect: Once per turn you can destroy one spell or trap card on the field. You can only use this effect of Sky Spy – Armored Eagle once per turn. If this card is sent to the graveyard by the effect of a Sky Spy card, you can target one WIND attribute monster you control, it gains 1000 ATK until the end of the turn._

* * *

 **So there you have it! Dennis has fulfilled his mission and two new characters are introduced! Kai and the unknown boy! Just going to upload the new chapter. See you in a bit!**


	8. Chapter 6

**Here's the second chapter, enjoy!**

Chapter 6: Galaxy-Eyes VS The Water Dragon!

"We need to talk, now," Kaito said to the boy.

"Of course Kaito, what do you want to talk about. How about the lovely weather we have here" said the boy.

"Cut the crap Yuga," Kaito said annoyed. "Tell me why you are here. Did they send more spies over?"

"You tell me, I was sitting in my room one minute and the next, POOF! I end up here" Yuga replied. "Where am I anyway?"

"Heartland in the Xyz dimension" Kaito answered.

"Oh," Yuga said suddenly realising. "So that's why the tower has a giant heart on it," he said.

"Just come on. Your coming home with me and then my father is sending you home" Kaito said as he gripped Yuga by the arm and began to drag him towards Heartland Tower.

"Ok, but first let me go," Yuga said and Kaito released his arm. The two then began to walk to the tower that loomed in the distance. Yuga then looked at the card he was still holding. "Kaito, I might have been brought here by this," Yuga said holding the card up to Kaito.

"Why do you think that?" Kaito asked him confused.

"You know that boy and that girl who was dueling, the on that looks like Hikari, every time I get near them it starts to glow," Yuga said. Kaito looked at the card.

"Maybe it has something to do with why you look like Yuto," he said.

"Maybe" Yuga replied.

* * *

The pair were soon in Heartland Tower and had spoken to Kaito's father Dr Faker who was surprised to see Yuga. Dr Faker had agreed to power up the teleporter to send Yuga back home but it would take some time to charge, and now Kaito and Yuga were currently sitting patiently in Kaito's bedroom.

"I'm bored" moaned Yuga in despair.

"Well find something to do" Kaito called who was busy shuffling through his clothes in his closet, trying to find something nice to wear for tonight.

"Like what?" moaned Yuga

"How about a duel" suggested Kaito which perked up Yuga's interest. "I need to test out these new Cipher cards anyway."

"Sure" Yuga answered excitedly and hopped off the bed. He walked over to the desk that was opposite the closet and picked up his duel disk that was resting on there. He then walked out of the room and was soon followed by Kaito.

* * *

The pair were soon standing in underground arena 7. Dr Faker had built numerous underground labs and arenas under the tower to test new cards and other things that his scientists would make.

"You ready?" Yuga asked and Kaito nodded in response. The pair then activated their duel disks.

 **DUEL!**

 **Kaito: 4000**

 **VS**

 **Yuga: 4000**

"I'll go first," Yuga said as he picked out a card from his hand.

 **TURN: 1 Yuga hand: 5**

"I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands!" yelled Yuga and a humanoid monster appeared. It was green and had a numerous amount of arms and hands attached to it. It looked like something out of a horror movie.

 **Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands: Level 4/LIGHT/Fairy/1400 ATK/1000 DEF**

"And thanks to his effect I get to add one ritual spell or ritual monster to my hand! I think I'll add my **Aqua Armour Ritual** to my hand!" yelled Yuga as a card slipped out of his deck and he added it to his hand. "Now I set two cards face down, your move," he said as two face downs appeared.

 **Yuga hand: 3**

"My turn! Draw!" Kaito yelled as he drew his card and looked at it.

 **TURN: 2 Kaito hand: 6**

"I summon Cipher Wing in attack mode!" Yelled Kaito as he placed the card on his duel disk. The monster that appeared was very strange to look at. it was a small green cube which had two gold rings attached to it and it was held up in the air by six strange rainbow coloured wings.

 **Cipher Wing: Level 4/LIGHT/Machine/1400 ATK/1200 DEF**

"And this guy doesn't like to be alone cause since I control a Cipher monster I can bring out my second Cipher Wing!" Another copy of the strange looking monster appeared next to Kaito ready to do battle.

 **Cipher Wing: Level 4/LIGHT/Machine/1400 ATK/1200 DEF**

"Your gonna try and crash with one and then attack directly with the other, right?" Yuga asked. Kaito smirked at Yuga.

"Not quite. I play the continuous spell Cipher Interfere!" Kaito yelled, slamming the card into his duel disk. "Now since I control two Cipher Wings, one of them has their attack points doubled during battle!" Kaito yelled.

"No!" Cried Yuga. This was bad, he was going to take a lot of damage.

"Battle! Cipher Wing no.1! Attack!" Kaito roared.

 **Cipher Wing ATK: 1400 x 2 = 2800**

Cipher Wing then charged full speed at Manju and slammed into it, destroying it in the process. Yuga braced for the impact as it hit him and the gold particles which were once Manju flew past him.

 **Yuga: 4000 – 1400 = 2600**

"Now Cipher Wing no.2! Attack him directly!" Yelled Kaito as the second Cipher Wing charged towards Yuga.

"I play my Shrink card!" Yuga retaliated as he pressed his duel disk and the card flipped up. "This cuts the attack of Cipher Wing in half!" He yelled as Cipher Wing shrank to half its size.

 **Cipher Wing ATK: 1400 – ½ = 700**

Kaito looked at Yuga confused. Why didn't he use it on his first Cipher Wing? He would have been able to reduce the damage taken this turn. The second Cipher Wing slammed into Yuga and knocked him off his feet.

 **Yuga: 2600 – 700 = 1900**

"At the end of the battle phase Cipher Wing's attack returns to normal" Kaito said and his monster let off gold particles as its attack returned to normal.

 **Cipher Wing ATK: 1400 (Back to normal)**

Yuga slowly got up off the floor and up onto his feet.

"I activate **Dangerous Draw**! and with this, since I took over 2000 points of battle damage this battle phase, I can draw two cards!" Yuga yelled as he drew the top two cards of his deck hard.

 _"That's why he didn't play shrink on the first attack,"_ Kaito thought suddenly realising Yuga's plan.

"I end my turn with that and now Cipher Wing's attack returns to normal" Kaito said and Cipher Wing grew back to its original size.

 **Cipher Wing ATK: 1400 (Back to normal)**

 **Kaito hand: 3**

"My turn! Draw!" Yuga yelled.

 **TURN: 3 Yuga hand: 6**

Yuga smiled at the monster he drew; it was payback time.

"I reveal **Mirage Dragon – Calm Ocean** and send him to the graveyard to send another Mirage Dragon to the graveyard. I'll send **Mirage Dragon – Evening Tide** to the grave."

 **Mirage Dragon – Calm Ocean: Level 5/WATER/Dragon/2100 ATK/1600 DEF**

 **Mirage Dragon – Evening Tide: Level 1/WATER/Dragon/200 ATK/300 DEF**

"Now that that's done the effect of Evening Tide's activates and I can send another Mirage Dragon to the grave, so I'll send another Evening Tide and then that Evening Tide's effect activates so I can send a third one to the grave." Explained Yuga. Kaito groaned at this. He had played against these types of decks before and found them quite bland and boring. "Now my third one will send **Mirage Dragon – Mariana** to the grave," Yuga said, sliding the final card into his graveyard.

 **Mirage Dragon – Mariana: Level 3/WATER/Dragon/1400 ATK/900 DEF**

"I now activate **Aqua Armour Ritual** from my hand! now I can ritual summon my ace, but I need to tribute monsters whose total level's equal seven or more! Good thing I have Mariana in the grave cause by banishing her I can cover the cost!" Yuga yelled.

" _Why did he fill up his graveyard with monsters if only needed the one?"_ Kaito thought as the graveyard portal opened up on the ground in front of Yuga, and a serpent-like dragon which was Mariana rose out of it. It was huge and appeared to be made out of a combination of rock and water. Its red eyes locked onto Kaito and glared menacingly at him. Kaito's expression didn't waver, though, he just glared back at the dragon.

Then a puddle of water appeared below Mariana and four tentacles made completely of water rose out and stabbed Mariana which shocked Kaito a bit. The dragon cried out in pain as it felt its life slowly drain away. The now lifeless husk which was originally Mariana fell to the floor in a crumbled mess of rock and water. Then a tornado of water formed around the mess, covering it from sight. Kaito braced as he could feel the tornado's force and then saw two blue eyes in it.

"Great dragon of the ocean feed upon this sacrifice and shake the heavens with the force of the seven sea's!" chanted Yuga as the tornado grew bigger. "Ritual summon! Arise level 7! **Mirage Armour Ritual Dragon**!"

The tornado exploded, sending water everywhere and the dragon of the ritual dimension was revealed. The dragon was large and bulky, made entirely of water and had no wings. It was covered in a black armour with silver lining that was covered in small spikes. The dragons tail was completely covered in armour and most of its chest was. The helmet the dragon wore had a long metal spike on the top like the horn of a unicorn.

 **Mirage Armour Ritual Dragon: Level 7/WATER/Dragon/Ritual/2500 ATK/2000 DEF**

* * *

Yuto had just finished serving a customer and had gone to drop off some empty boxes into the back of Makoto's dad's van when a sharp pain shot through his chest, causing him to drop the boxes. He clutched his chest tightly as it began to burn a bit.

"What the heck?" he said quietly.

* * *

Ryu and Ruri were in a large park in another part of Heartland where some rides had been set up. The pair of them were on the bumper cars and Ryu was driving. Ryu turned a corner when a sharp pain shot through his chest.

"Crap!" he yelled loudly as he jerked the steering wheel to the left and spun out of control.

"Ryu!" exclaimed Ruri in fright and the bumper car hit another car and jolted to stop. "What the heck?!" she yelled angrily at him but her anger turned to concern as she saw Ryu gripping his chest and breathing heavily. "Are you ok?" Ruri asked concerned.

"N-no" Ryu panted.

* * *

Kaito stared at the new dragon that was now glaring at him. The dragon let out a loud roar which shook the room.

"Now thanks to his effect, Mirage Armour gains 300 attack points for every dragon in my graveyard. I currently have four! So that's 1200 points!" yelled Yuga and the dragon glowed blue signalling its strength was increasing.

 **Mirage Armour ATK: 2500 + 1200 = 3700**

"Battle! Mirage Armour attack one of the Cipher Wings! Aquatic Spiral Charge!" Yelled Yuga and Mirage Armour then got on all fours and charged at one of the Cipher Wings with the force of a charging rhino. Water then began to form around its horn and extended it.

"Cipher Interferes effect activates! So Cipher Wing's attack is doubled!" Kaito yelled as the card glowed and Cipher Wing's attack increased.

 **Cipher Wing ATK: 1400 x 2 = 2800**

The water horn pierced through the strange monster and it exploded which sent Kaito flying back.

 **Kaito: 4000 – 900 = 3100**

"I end my turn. Try and beat that" Yuga boasted confidently.

 **Yuga hand: 3**

"I draw!" Kaito yelled ignoring Yuga's boastfulness.

 **TURN: 4 Kaito hand: 4**

"I summon **Cipher Spark** in attack mode!" Kaito yelled and summoned another strange monster. This monster was a small cube like Cipher Wing except it was blue. It had one gold ring around it and was letting off a shower of rainbow coloured sparks.

 **Cipher Spark: Level 4/LIGHT/Machine/1000 ATK/800 DEF**

"These cards are weird," Yuga said.

"So what? Their mine" Kaito replied annoyed. "I now use the effect of Cipher Spark! Since it was normal summoned I can bring out another Cipher Spark to join him!" Kaito yelled as a card slipped out his deck and he placed it on his duel disk. A second copy of the strange monster appeared.

 **Cipher Spark: Level 4/LIGHT/Machine/1000 ATK/800 DEF**

 _"Though he has two copies of that thing, whatever it is, the boost from his spell won't be nearly enough to beat my dragon,"_ Yuga thought and then noticed the levels of Kaito's monsters. "You have three level fours. You're going to Xyz summon aren't you?" Yuga guessed. Kaito smiled at him.

"Not quite," Kaito said. "I use the effect of my Cipher Wing! So I tribute it to increase the levels of all my Cipher monsters by four!"

"Four!" Exclaimed Yuga as then Cipher Wing then dissolved into gold particles which then attached to both Cipher Sparks causing their level's to increase.

 **Cipher Spark Level: 4 – 8 (x2)**

"Two level eights" breathed Yuga.

"I overlay both Cipher Sparks to construct the overlay network!" Kaito yelled as both monsters turned fully yellow and shot up into the air. A Xyz portal opened below them and both monsters sailed inside. "Galaxy shining in the darkness," Kaito chanted as an eye glowed in a dark area. "Embody the demon of revenge and become my very servant!" The monster's wings flickered before taking shape and the tail shook about. "Xyz Summon! Descend! Rank 8! Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon!" Kaito chanted. The dragon then rose out of the portal in all its glory and let out an almighty roar, one that would match even that of the Legendary Egyptian God's.

 **Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon: Rank 8/LIGHT/Dragon/Xyz/3000 ATK/2500 DEF/OVERLAY UNITS 2**

"Incredible" Yuga breathed.

"I activate Galaxy-Eyes' effect! Cipher Projection! Now I take control of your dragon and its name is treated a Galaxy-eyes'!" Kaito yelled. Galaxy-Eyes absorbed one overlay unit into its chest and sent streams of light towards Mirage Armour.

 **Galaxy-Eyes OVERLAY UNITS: 1**

"Oh no! Now he can use the effect of Cipher Interfere!" Yuga gasped. "I use the effect of Mirage Armour! So by banishing a monster from my grave your effect is negated! Aqua Guard!" Mirage Armour roared and the spiritual form of Evening Tide appeared which then turned into a barrier made of water that blocked the Cipher Projection. "Of course, the downside is that my dragon loses 300 attack points but it's a small price to pay."

 **Mirage Armour ATK: 3700 – 300 = 3400**

"I equip Galaxy-Eyes with the equip spell **Cipher Armour**! This will give him an additional 1000 attack points!" Kaito yelled. Gold armour then materialised in front of Galaxy-Eyes. The armour soon attached to the dragon, now giving it more protection. Galaxy-Eyes was now wearing a large gold chest plate and the shoulder and knee pads were now larger and had a sharper look to them. Its wings, however, were changed completely. The gold disks with the purple gem in the middle had been completely replaced by two long, golden, mechanical wings. Galaxy-Eyes roared with power which made Yuga cover his ears.

 **Galaxy-Eyes ATK: 3000 + 1000 = 4000**

"Battle! Galaxy-Eyes! Attack Mirage Armour! Ultra Cipher Stream of Annihilation!" Kaito roared. Galaxy-Eyes roared in response and flew high into the air. Its wings were then spread out and they were covered in a rainbow coloured energy while its shoulder pads glowed gold. Galaxy-Eyes then began charging a blue beam of energy in its mouth and fired it at Mirage Armour. The shoulder pads then fired twin beams of gold energy which mixed in with the Cipher Stream, forming a gold and blue spiralling beam of utter destruction.

"I'll negate Mirage Armours destruction with Aqua Guard! You see, one per turn if Mirage Armour would be destroyed, I can banish a monster from my graveyard instead!" Yuga yelled. The spiritual form of another Evening Tide appeared which once again, turned into a water barrier and blocked the attack.

"It doesn't matter! You still take damage!" Kaito yelled. The energy beam slammed into the barrier, sending shockwaves in all directions. The force of the attack also sent both Kaito and Yuga backwards as they struggled against the shockwaves.

 **Yuga: 1900 – 600 = 1300**

 **Mirage Armour ATK: 3400 – 300 = 3100**

The attack then slowly died down revealing the now wrecked duel arena.

"I end... my… turn" Kaito panted.

 **Kaito hand: 2**

Dr Faker ran into one of the observation rooms the top to see where the shockwaves had come from. He then saw the two dragons facing each other. He pressed a button on a control pad and a microphone rose out of it.

"Kaito! Be careful! Those shockwaves are tearing the arena apart! I don't mind you two dueling, but please be more careful!" he practically screamed.

"Sorry, sir! We'll be more careful!" Yuga shouted back. "My turn now, draw!" Yuga yelled.

 **TURN: 5 Yuga hand: 4**

Yuga smiled at the card he drew. With this, Kaito was done for.

"I play my Dragon Heart spell!" Yuga called as the card the revealed itself.

"Where in the world did that boy get such a rare and card?" murmured Faker. Kaito stared at that card. He had seen it on TV where a duelist had used it and won the duel because of it.

"I now send three dragons to the graveyard and pump up my Mirage Armour by 1000 points!" Yuga said as he slipped three of his dragons in the graveyard and Mirage Armours attack increased.

 **Mirage Armour ATK: 3100 + 1000 = 4100**

"And now that three more dragons are resting in my graveyard, Mirage Armour gains 900 more points!" Mirage Armour glowed blue as its attack points increased.

 **Mirage Armour ATK: 4100 + 900 = 5000**

"Now Mirage Armour! Attack his Galaxy-Eyes! Aquatic Spiral Charge!" Yuga yelled. Mirage Armour then got on all fours as water formed around its horn. It then charged full speed at Galaxy-Eyes and stabbed it dead in the chest.

"I use my Armour's effect! So it's destroyed instead of Galaxy-Eyes!" Kaito yelled. The armour then shattered and turned into gold particles. With the armour now gone, Galaxy-Eyes' wings reverted back to their original shape.

 **Kaito: 3100 – 1000 = 2100**

"I end my turn with that" Yuga said confidently and his dragon's attack points returned to normal.

 **Mirage Armour ATK: 5000 – 1000 = 4000**

 **Yuga hand: 3**

Kaito knew he needed a miracle to win this now. None of the cards in his hand could help him defeat that dragon, it was all or nothing now.

"MY TURN!" he roared, drawing his card as hard as possible.

 **TURN: 6 Kaito hand: 3**

Kaito smiled at the card he drew. it was all over now.

"First, I use the effect of Galaxy-Eyes! Cipher Projection!" The dragon absorbed it's second overlay unit and sent streams of light towards Mirage Armour.

"My dragon will negate that!" counter Yuga as his dragon defended itself with another one of Yuga's deceased dragons.

 **Mirage Armour ATK: 4000 – 300 = 3700**

"Just what I wanted" Smirked Kaito which made Yuga confused. "Battle! Galaxy-Eyes attack Mirage Armour! Kaito ordered

"Is he mad? Galaxy-Eyes will be destroyed!" exclaimed Yuga.

"Cipher Stream of Annihilation!" Kaito called to the dragon and Galaxy-Eyes reared its head back before charging a blue energy beam in its mouth and then fired it at Mirage Armour.

"Bring him on!" yelled Yuga. "Your dragon is much weaker than mine!"

"At damage calculation I use honest!" called Kaito which caused Yuga's face to fall.

" _Shit!"_ he thought as an angel then appeared behind Galaxy-Eyes and then disappeared leaving Galaxy-Eyes with its wings.

"Now it will gain Mirage Armour's attack points" murmured Faker.

 **Galaxy-Eyes ATK: 3000 + 3700 = 6700**

The energy stream hit Mirage Armour, destroying it and wiping out the rest of Yuga's life points.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he cried as it hit zero.

 **Yuga: 1300 – 3000 = 0**

 **Yuga: LOSE**

"Aw man," Yuga sighed as the solid vision disappeared. Kaito walked up to him.

"You did well Yuga," he said.

"Yeah, but not well enough" he replied.

"Don't worry you might beat me next time" Kaito said trying to cheer him up.

"Yuga! The teleporter is ready!" Faker called over the intercom.

"Coming!" Yuga called back. He then looked back at Kaito. "This was fun. I should do this more often."

Yuga was stood outside the cylinder like machine which had lots of wires attached to it that connected to the roof. He turned around to Faker and Kaito.

"I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble" he apologised while bowing.

"It's quite alright, your welcome here anytime," Faker said with a smile.

"Thank you" Yuga replied. He waved at the father and son once before his body glowed and he disappeared from the Xyz dimension.

* * *

A cylinder-like machine opened up in a dimly lit lab and Yuga stepped out.

"Man it feels good to be home," he said as he stretched his arms. The doors to the lab opened up and a scientist looked in the lab to see Yuga standing there. He had short black hair and crystal blue eyes. He wore black trousers and a grey jumper that was covered by a smart white lab coat.

"There you…*Huff* are *Huff*," he said panting.

"wat up doc?" Yuga said casually to the man.

"What's up?!" he shrieked. "What's up is Hikari has been kidnapped!"

Yuga felt something wrench deep inside his chest.

"What?" he asked, his voice clearly shaking.

"Academia somehow managed to get past our security and got to her!" the scientist yelled.

Yuga was now running through the halls of the tall skyscraper. The alarm was blaring and all the scientists had cleared the floor. Damn it all! He shouldn't have picked up Mirage Armour. Why did he have to pick up a glowing card? If he stayed in Ritual, he would have been able to protect her. As he rounded a corner he saw two figures in brown cloaks walking down the hall. On held a girl with long pink hair over their shoulder. She was obviously unconscious.

"Hey!" Yuga roared at them.

"Yu…Yuga?" the girl murmured quietly as her green eyes fluttered open slightly before shutting.

"Uh-oh, busted," said one of the figures.

"The transport system still isn't working. I need more time" said the other calmly.

"Give her back!" Yuga yelled at them, seething with rage.

"Aww, he's worried about his girlfriend" teased one of the figures and then licked his lips. "C'mon kid! Let's see how tough you are!" said one of the figures as they activated a shield like a duel disk which produced a sword-like blade. Yuga activated his own duel disk.

"Fine! Your gonna regret messing with me!" he yelled. "But first, remove that thing from your head so I can see your face," Yuga said and the figure removed the cloak revealing it was Kai. "on second thought, keep it on so I don't have to see your ugly face" Yuga sneered.

"Cute, but now you die," said Kai with a twisted smile as a purple substance oozed down the side of his mouth which made Yuga shiver.

Before both of them could yell 'Duel!' a pink glow began to emanate from the second figure's duel disk.

"It's working," they said as the glow grew brighter.

"Sorry, but we'll have to save this for another day," Kai said as he disappeared with the figure in a flash of pink light leaving Yuga alone in the hallway.

"FUCK!" he roared at the top of his lungs.

* * *

Ryu got off the rollercoaster while Ruri staggered off in all directions.

"I feel sick" she moaned she collapsed onto her knees.

"Well it was my turn to pick a ride," Ryu said, remembering how Ruri dragged him on the Ferris wheel a few minutes ago. "Anyway, my chest feels much better now," he said.

"What do you think it was?" asked Ruri who was still on the floor.

"Don't know, Muscle spasm maybe? I don't really care now because I feel better" said Ryu. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to check the time. 7:58pm it read. The fireworks would start in two minutes. "Ruri, the fireworks start in two minutes. Let's get a better view of them" Ryu said

"Sure" Ruri replied and began to follow Ryu to the other end of the park.

The pair of them were soon stood by a small brick building with a flat roof. This was the toilets for the park.

"I thought the view was supposed to get better from far back not worse," Ruri said annoyed.

"Yeah," Ryu replied. He then looked at the roof of the toilets and smiled. With a great leap, he grabbed on the edge of the roof and scrambled up.

"Ryu! What are you doing?!" Ruri said surprised.

"Getting a better view, c'mon!" Ryu said and reached down for her. Ruri pondered for a bit before grabbing Ryu's hand and being pulled up. She grabbed a hold of the edge and scrambled up as well. They were soon staring at the other end of the park, waiting for the fireworks.

"Thanks for taking me out today even though Shun forced you," Ruri said.

"It's alright, I enjoyed it" Ryu replied. They looked at each other before Ryu spoke. "so…erm…what's the deal with him anyway?" asked Ryu.

"Ugh" sighed Ruri. "You have no idea. Shun is too overprotective and always thinks that something g bad is going to happen to me. He doesn't like me hanging around with boy's apart from one's he trusts, like you and Yuto" Ruri said.

"Well he's your brother and he's looking out for you. My sister would do the same for me" Ryu replied.

"I guess older siblings are like that," Ruri said and Ryu nodded in agreement. The two began to chat and laugh on the roof while a figure watched them angrily. Yuto clenched his fists as he stared at them. Why didn't Shun ask him to go with her! Of all people, it had to be Ryu! He was the one she should be talking to up there! Not him! Yuto sighed. No, he can't let jealousy take over him. But… No! it wouldn't be fair to her. Besides, he was popular enough at school, he could get a girl there. But…

Yuto was then snapped out of his thoughts but the sound of fireworks and looked up the sky which was coloured with different colours from red to green and from yellow to blue. They went on for a few minutes before the grand finale where the sky exploded with colour which got a few "oohs" and "ahhs" from the audience. Ryu jumped down from the roof and after much persuading, Ruri gained the courage to jump down and landed into his arms. The two stared at each other, their faces red before Yuto spoke.

"So are you going to kiss or what?" he said. The pair of teens turned to see Yuto shocked before Ruri squealed and shoved Ryu back into someone.

"Sorry" Ryu apologised to the man but the man just grumbled and stormed off in a huff. "Sheesh looks like someone's on their period" Ryu grumbled and walked over to Ruri and Yuto. "1. Don't surprise me like that again. And 2. Where's Shun?" Ryu said to Yuto.

"Shun was hungry so he went to McDonalds to get a cheeseburger" Yuto answered.

"He does realise there's going to be food at the party," Ryu said.

"Well let's meet him there" Ruri cut in. the boys agreed, and the three began to trek their way to McDonalds to meet Shun. Little did they realise that after this night their lives would never be the same…

 _Cards made by me_

 **Dangerous Draw**

 _Trap_

 _Effect: Activate only at the end of your opponent's battle phase if you took 2000 or more points of battle damage; draw two cards._

 **Mirage Dragon – Calm Ocean: Level 5/WATER/Dragon/2100 ATK/1600 DEF**

 _Effect: Once per turn you can reveal this card in your hand and send it to the graveyard, then send one Mirage Dragon from your deck to the graveyard. You can only use the effect of Mirage Dragon – Calm Ocean once per turn._

 **Mirage Dragon – Evening Tide: Level 1/WATER/Dragon/200 ATK/300 DEF**

 _Effect: When this card is sent from your hand or deck to the graveyard while there is a Mirage Dragon in your graveyard; send one Mirage Dragon to the graveyard._

 **Mirage Dragon – Mariana: Level 3/WATER/Dragon/1400 ATK/900 DEF**

 _Effect: If you were to Ritual summon a WATER attribute Dragon type monster while this card is in the graveyard. You can banish this card from the graveyard and this card becomes the entire tribute. You can only use the effect of Mirage Dragon – Marina once per turn._

 **Aqua Armour Ritual**

 _Ritual Spell_

 _Effect: This card is used to ritual summon Mirage Armour Ritual Dragon. You must also tribute monsters from your hand and/or field whose total levels equal 7 or more. If this card is in the graveyard, you can banish this card from your graveyard to special summon one Mirage Armour Ritual Dragon from your graveyard and it is treated as being ritual summoned until your next end phase. You can only use this effect once per duel._

 **Mirage Armour Ritual Dragon: Level 7/WATER/Dragon/Ritual/2500 ATK/2000 DEF**

 _Effect: This card can be ritual summoned by Aqua Armour Ritual. While this ritual summoned card is face-up on the field it gains 300 ATK for every dragon type monster in your graveyard. Once per turn, during either player's turn if your opponent activates a card effect you can banish one monster from your graveyard and negate that effect. Once per turn if this card would be destroyed you can banish one monster from your graveyard to negate that destruction._

 **Cipher Spark: Level 4/LIGHT/Machine/1000 ATK/800 DEF**

 _Effect: When this card is summoned and you control another Cipher monster, you can special summon one Cipher Spark from your deck. You can only use the effect of Cipher Spark once per turn._

 **Cipher Armour**

 _Equip Spell_

 _Effect: Equip only to a Cipher Xyz monster. It gains 1000 ATK. If it would be destroyed by battle, you can destroy this card instead. If you control a Cipher monster that has a level, you can special summon this card from your graveyard in attack position (LIGHT/Machine/0 ATK/0 DEF) and this card becomes the same level and name. banish this card when it leaves the field after this effect._

* * *

 **And so we leave our heroes journeying** **find Shun who is at McDonalds. This story is almost at the points that I want it to be and as you can guess from the last sentence before the AN, the invasion will begin in a few chapters and the story will take a darker turn. I apologise once again for not being able to post this a lot earlier as I've been stuck with a few personal things but that is changing soon. Summer is almost here and I will have a lot more free time on this story. Anyway if you like this chapter then leave a review why and I will see you in the next update.**

 **Bye!**


	9. Chapter 7

**Hello, everyone! I am back! And not dead! I do apologise for not being able to upload but my life just caught up with me and then my exams happened. But now they are all finished and I can get back to writing and without further ado, I present the next chapter!**

Chapter 7: The Beginning of the End

It was about 8:20 and Ryu, Ruri and Yuto had managed to find Shun at a McDonalds which was thankfully close to Sharks mansion. Yuto pulled his duel disk out of his pocket and checked the time.

"Who knew that these things worked like a phone also," he said.

"I know, it's awesome" Ryu replied. The four then noticed several people walking along the same street as them. They were all wearing fancy suits and dresses.

"Do you think we should have worn something a little better?" asked Ryu.

"Yeah, we should have" Shun answered. "I mean look at Yuto and Ruri. At least their wearing something a bit fancy, all we're wearing is casual stuff" he continued. They soon reached the mansion's entrance and it was magnificent. The entrance was a large gold gate which was open as to let the guests in and then the driveway went towards a large fountain with a shark on it that was sculptured out of marble and had water spraying out its mouth.

The four followed the guests up the driveway with Ryu and Shun getting a few strange looks from them and they soon reached the front door. It was beautiful, large fancy doors stood guard at the entrance as well as some security guards and none other than Rei.

"Hey guys!" she called cheerfully. Ryu and Shun erupted into laughter while Yuto sniggered a little bit.

"What… heh heh heh, are you wearing? HA HA HA HA!" Ryu managed to choke out. Rei was wearing the most ridiculous looking dress you had ever seen. It was light blue like the sky and was big and puffy. It also seemed to sparkle and didn't go well with her silver shoes.

"For your information it the only thing I could find!" She yelled angrily. "Besides, at least I'm wearing something fancy unlike you" she scoffed.

"Whatever" Ryu replied while Rei gave a frustrated growl.

"Let me show you inside," Rei said regaining her composure. She led the way inside and the four followed. The inside was magnificent. There were pillars sculpted out of more marble and dozens of photos of Shark throughout the years as a champion as most of them had him with trophies in his hands. The four were admiring the photos when Ryu went to ask Rei a question and his heart skipped a beat. H stopped and stared at Rei had the exact same scar he had on his neck. It was right there on the left side and it was horizontal across the left side just like his.

" _What the hell? I need to ask her about this"_ Ryu thought and proceeded to continue walking.

"So how many tournaments has Shark actually won?" Yuto asked breaking the silence.

"Around about 230" Rei answered.

"Man he must be crazy good then," Ryu said who was still focusing on Rei's scar. Once they entered the next room, Ryu completely banished the thought of Rei's scar from his mind. Shun's mouth was agape which was quite rare for him and Ruri and Yuto were also stunned. The room in front of them was a grand ballroom with violins playing in the background, dozens of buffet tables with various ranges of food from all over the world on them and about 70 of the world's greatest duelists standing and chatting. Shun immediately went into fangirl mode.

"There's Aaron Hunter! He's won about 3 world championships without breaking a sweat! And over there! Dueling couple Runo and Fuya! They have won every single tag tournament up to date! Ruri! I must get their autographs" Shun said determinedly.

"Looks like someone's happy" Rei chuckled as Shun walked off dragging Ruri along with him.

"Yeah," Ryu laughed as he walked into the party with Rei and Yuto. "So, does Shark knows _all_ these people?" Ryu asked who was still a bit stunned.

"Most of them. The others are just friends of his friends" Rei answered. "Come on, I'll take you to meet Aaron in person."

* * *

Shark watched the party from the banister on the above floor. He was wearing a white shirt with a black tie and a purple blazer and trousers. He stared at the champagne in his hand and drank it.

"You alright Shark Bait?" a voice rang out.

Shark turned to see vector in a white shirt and brown trousers with pointy black shoes walk up.

"You know I hate that name" Shark growled. "Anyway, what do you want now? I swear to god if Misael is trying to kill you again then don't come running to me for cover."

"Actually I came to see how my best friend in the world is" Vector replied playfully.

"We're not friends" Shark growled at him.

"No, you just don't want to admit it," Vector said with a grin and attempted to hug Shark.

"Get off me!" Shark yelled as he tried to fight of Vector. He then caught a whiff of Vector's breath.

"Hang on, is that alcohol? Have you been drinking Whisky again?"

"Maybe" Vector replied with a shrug.

"Great! I'm going to get into trouble again. Your too young to be drinking that stuff!" Shark yelled angrily.

Vector laughed as Shark grunted and leant on the banister with whatever was left of his champagne.

"You know Ryoga, I love these moments we have together," he said.

"Well I don't" Shark gruffly replied. Vector's face then became serious.

"Okay then, I've had enough. What is wrong with you Shark? Lately, you've been so distant from everyone and are acting like a total stone-cold bastard" Vector said. Shark sighed sadly.

"I'm just sick of all this. I am bored with my life and want some excitement in it again. I need a new challenge. When we were told that Academia was going to invade I was _Excited_. How bad is that? Me being excited that the world is basically going to end" Shark admitted.

"I know how you feel Shark Bait" Vector sighed as he leant on the banister next to Shark.

"What I'm trying to say is that I miss the old days where I was pushed to the edge and I need that feeling again. That feeling of being so close to losing but still having the will to fight on" Shark said.

"I know what you mean. But cheer up, you should feel proud of how far you've gotten since those days" Vector said comfortingly.

"Thanks, I guess," Shark said.

The two stared down at the party in silence. Finally, Vector spoke up again.

"Well, I'm going back to my room for another drink," Vector said as he got up but was grabbed by Shark.

"Oh no you're not, you're coming with me," he said and dragged a moaning Vector all the way to Girag's room. Shark opened the door to see Girag sitting on his bed in a suit with his headphones in his ears. Once Girag saw shark in the doorway he took off his headphones.

"Yeah, Shark? What do you need?" he asked.

"Girag, I need you to keep an eye on Vector for me. Make sure he stays away from any alcohol" Shark asked.

"But Sharrrrk" Vector whined.

"Zip it!" Shark growled and then turned back to Girag. "Also get out your room and socialize with people," Shark said. "This is supposed to be a party."

"Alright, fine" sighed Girag as he got up off his bed and walked over to Vector. "You're coming with me," he said as he dragged Vector out of the doorway and the latter was begging Girag to let go. Shark gave a small smile before walking back downstairs to the party.

* * *

Shun was still giddy over his autograph. It had been a whole 20 minutes and he was still gaga over how he spoke to Runo and Fuya.

"I must say I've never seen Shun this happy before," Ryu said quietly as he took a sip of punch he had gotten earlier.

"Well, he is talking to his role models. Who wouldn't be" said Yuto as he took a bite of his salad that he had.

"Allen will be so jealous" he added.

"I know" Ryu replied and then looked around. "Hey, where's Ruri?"

"I don't know. The last I heard was that she was talking to Rei and Rio and then disappeared after that" Yuto told Ryu.

"Maybe she went to the toilet?" Ryu asked.

"Maybe" Yuto replied. Ryu then looked over and saw Shun walking to the buffet table.

"I'm gonna go grab some food with Shun and then come back," Ryu told Yuto as he walked off.

"Ok I'll see you guys in a minute" Yuto called to him.

The buffet table was littered with every type of food you could imagine. Chicken, beef, seafood, salads, soups, the whole lot. Ryu saw Shun staring at the table, finding it hard to decide what he wanted.

"Try these things," Ryu said as he picked up a chicken leg and began to eat it. "They're really nice."

Shun picked up the chicken and stared at it. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, he took a bite.

"Wow, that's spicy," he said as the flavour entered his mouth.

"Yeah, I know. I eat this stuff by the bucket full. My mum does these once a month so it's nice to have these without waiting forever" Ryu said as he picked up another one and began to eat it.

"Shun?" a familiar voice said. The two teens whirled around to see who it was.

"Kaito?" Shun asked, confused as to why Kaito was here.

Kaito stood there holding his plate of seafood, looking at the two boys. Kaito, like Shark, had decided to keep things simple. He wore his pink shirt and grey trousers with a navy blue blazer.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"We were invited here by Rei" Shun answered.

"That girl Shark looks after?" Kaito asked.

"Yeah, that's the one" Ryu replied. "What are you doing here?" Ryu asked. Ryu had heard about Kaito some days earlier when he joined the CDS but had never actually spoken to him. He was in the Clover branch like Yuto and Shun and had met their friends Allen and Sayaka from the Clover branch. They had then told him about Kaito and how powerful he was. Kaito looked down and recognised Ryu from the other night when Shark had shown him who Ryu was.

"You must be Yuto's new friend Ryu. I've heard about you. My name is Kaito, it's nice to meet you" Kaito said extending out his hand for a handshake. Ryu grabbed Kaito's hand and shook it.

"It's nice to meet you too," Ryu said kindly.

"So what brings you here Kaito? Not many people get invited to parties such as this one" Shun said as he picked up a drink.

"It's a long story but to put it shortly I'm actually old friends with Shark," Kaito said as he picked up a bit of pastry from his plate and bit into it.

"That's cool. I didn't know you and Shark knew each other" Shun said.

"Yeah, It's an old friendship. But it's nice to be back in Heartland again and escape work" Kaito said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you went on a business trip. Where did you go again?" Shun asked suddenly remembering.

"I went to London. It was pretty hectic there. So much traffic" Kaito answered. Ryu at this stage was bored and had walked off to find someone else to talk to. He then saw Yuto talking to Ruri, Rei and Rio.

"Hey guys," Ryu said as he approached them.

"Hey Ryu, we were just talking about the upcoming World Duel Carnival," Ruri said.

"What? When is it? I've been itching to duel in a tournament for my entire life!" Ryu said excitedly.

" _That's even if you live after Academia invades"_ Rio thought.

"It's supposed to be near the summer so we get extra days off school," Yuto said.

"What? Skipping school for dueling? Count me in!" Ryu said excitedly.

"Don't forget you'll be representing your branches of the CDS so you'll need to perform well," Rio told them.

"And Ryoga and many other good duelists will be entering so you'll need to be on your guard" Rio added.

"Well, I'm gonna win!" Ryu said confidently.

"Calm down dragon breath, you haven't won yet," Rei said. "Remember our last match? We were even in strength, so don't count me out yet. I'll be the one holding that trophy and you'll be swimming with the fishes."

"As if fish face. I'm gonna be the one holding the trophy not you" Ryu growled. Both Ryu and Rei glared daggers at each other before they were stopped by a loud hello from the speakers.

The entire party froze to see Vector standing by the band with the microphone in his hand.

"Oh no," Rio groaned as she face-palmed. Ryu and the others were confused.

"Now *Hic* I just wanna say something," a drunk Vector said.

"I told you to keep him away from any alcohol!" Shark raged at Girag. The pair of them were standing in the crowd.

"I'm sorry! "Girag yelled. "But he got away from me and I've been trying to find him all evening."

Shark grunted and began to walk over to the stage with Girag following.

Vector then began to start singing and was pretty awful at it. The crowd had to block their ears to stop the noise.

"Ok that's enough out of you," Shark said as he and Girag reached Vector and Girag removed Vector who was cursing and screaming, away from the band. "Everyone, I do apologise for this strange interruption. There is still plenty of food and time so please enjoy the music, food and have a good time. Thank you" Shark said in the microphone.

"That was weird," Ryu said as Shark left.

"Hey Rio, why was Vector trying to sing?" Rei asked.

"Vector's had a little too much to drink," Rio said.

"That explains why it was so bad then," Ryu said and everyone began to pick back up on their conversation.

* * *

The party when on for a while longer in peace before the reporters came to interview Shark and the other champions. Some were let in provided they would not disrupt the party while most of the others were sent away. Ryu and Yuto were gathered in the crowd of the reporters, watching Shark and IV who had arrived get interviewed.

"Mr Kamishiro, what is your opinion on Kaito Tenjo? Many fans say that he will become the new champion of Heartland in the future. Do you believe he poses a threat to your title?" A female reporter asked.

"My opinion of Kaito is that he is a strong duelist and a good person that I am glad to call my friend. As for him posing as a threat. Well, we'll just have to see if he had the skill to beat me and if he wants to try and defeat me for my title, then I encourage him to try. Any more questions?" Shark was then bombarded by about 20 other questions.

"Man, he sure is popular" Yuto stated.

"You got that right," Ryu said as Shark had finished answering all the questions he wanted and asked the reporters to leave. After the reporters left IV noticed Ryu and Yuto standing there.

"Who are these Shark? A couple of fans?" He asked and recognised them as the duelists that Shark had shown him the other night.

"They're Rei's friends. I invited them over as I thought Rei would get bored being by herself" Shark answered. IV walked over the two boys and introduced himself to them.

"Good evening gentlemen. I'm IV, but I'm sure you've heard of me before. I'm an old rival of Sharks" IV said.

"Yes, we've heard of you" Ryu answered as he gave IV a friendly handshake. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," IV said as he now shook Yuto's hand. "Are you participating in this year's WDC?" IV asked. Both the boys nodded. IV smiled while Shark frowned. "Come with me, I'll give you a few tips and tricks," IV said as he began to walk off with the two boys following him. Shark just growled at this.

* * *

The party went on with no further interruptions. III soon arrived to see his brother and Ryu and Yuto got to meet him too. Finally, around 12:30 the party was finishing up. Ryu was sitting outside by himself watching the last few people go home. Shun had actually fallen asleep about an hour ago which was hilarious. Yuto had offered to help him home while the others stayed at the party. Ryu took in a breath of fresh air before Rei walked up to him and sat down.

"Hey Ryu something bothering you?" She asked him.

"No, I'm fine. Where's Ruri?" he asked.

"She was speaking to Kaito a moment ago. She probably still is" Rei answered.

"That's good," Ryu said and looked at Rei's neck.

"Hey, Rei can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing" she answered.

"Where did you get that scar?"

Rei was confused. Why would he want to know that? Well, he is a boy. And boys did like to compare each other's injuries as she had seen in Jaws the other night.

"To be honest I don't actually know," Rei said. "I guess it's something I had from when I was little although I don't really remember my childhood that much" Rei said quietly. Now that he thought about it, Ryu couldn't really think of any childhood memories. Most of it was all fuzzy.

"Why do you ask?" Rei asked Ryu which snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, well, you see… here I'll show you" Ryu said and he began to turn around. Rei then gasped. She saw that exact same scar on Ryu's neck. It was right there, staring her down.

"Where did you get that?" Rei asked. Her voice was hollow.

"I don't know but I think it's somehow connected to my powers which means were connected to each other somehow," Ryu said. Rei buried her face in her hands and began to sob gently. "Hey, are you alright?" Ryu asked surprised.

"I just can't take this anymore" Rei sobbed. "First I almost kill Misael, then my powers flare up around you and then we have the same scar! I want to know why this is happening! I'm so confused"

"Hey! Calm down! Look, I'm having the same problems so we can get over this together. Besides, it's nice to have someone to talk to about this. Ryu comforted.

"Thanks, Ryu," Rei said as she wiped her eyes and hugged him. Ryu was shocked. He had never been hugged by a girl other than his mother and sister before.

"Oh my gosh! Are you alright Rei?!" Ruri exclaimed as Ryu and Rei stopped hugging and saw Ruri standing there.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rei said as she wiped her eyes again.

"Rei was upset and I was just comforting her," Ryu said.

"What was she upset about?" Ruri asked.

"I was just stressed and I got worked up about it" Rei lied and she let out a small laugh.

"Don't worry Rei?" Ruri said. "As long as we're here we can help you. We're your friends."

"Thank you guys, really," Rei said. Ryu smiled as he stood up.

"Well, I got to go. My parents will kill me if I don't get back soon" Ryu said. He then looked at Ruri. "Um… do you…want me…to walk you home?" he choked out. Rei grinned.

"Yeah! You two should go home together. Safety in numbers they say" Rei said.

"Well Shun would try to kill you if I went home at this time," Ruri said.

"So it's a yes?" Ryu asked. Ruri nodded. "Um ok then. Let's go" he said. "Bye Rei," Ryu said.

"Bye you guys" Rei called as she waved to them.

* * *

Heartland was surprisingly quiet that night. well, morning technically. Ryu and Ruri walked along the darkened streets.

"Geeze, it's creepy her at night. Hopefully, we don't run into 'The Pack' here" Ryu said.

"Please don't mention them," Ruri said.

"Sorry," Ryu apologised. They mostly walked in silence one would try to start up a topic of conversation which would quickly die down. Then Ruri said something interesting.

"So are you and Rei official?" she asked.

"What?! N-no! what makes you say that?" Ryu yelled surprised.

"It's just that you looked pretty chummy when you were hugging," Ruri said. Ryu couldn't tell but it sounded like there was a hint of anger in her voice.

"I can assure you that were friends only," Ryu said a little irritated.

"Oh, okay then that's fine" Ruri replied and looked away as they approached Ruri and Shuns house. The pair of them stood at the end of the pathway that led up to the front door.

"I really enjoyed today. Thanks, Ryu" Ruri said.

"Yeah I did too. Perhaps we could do this again sometime" Ryu said, straining to finish the last sentence.

"I'd love to," Ruri said as she opened the gate and ran to the front door. Ryu smiled at her and began his long walk home. He soon reached home and gently opened the door as to not to wake his parents up.

"You better have a good reason why your home at one in the morning" Ryu's dad said as Ryu closed the door. Ryu jumped as he heard the voice and the light flickered on to reveal Ryu's father.

"Sorry dad. I was helping a friend home. I couldn't let her walk home by herself" Ryu said. Ryu's father brushed his black hair out of his face.

"It's too late to have this conversation now so get to bed, you have school in the morning."

Ryu groaned and slowly walked up the stairs quietly.

"Also you're grounded for a week" Ryu's father added.

"Aw come on!" Ryu groaned as he got up the stairs.

* * *

5:00 AM. That's what time everyone had to get up at Academia. No one complained, no one whined. Nothing. They had been taught better than that. And now here they were. Lined up in the training facility, ready to go under the order of General Hassleberry

He wore one of Academia's general uniforms. This one was dark green with a white lining.

"Now soldiers! This is what we have been training for, what we have been preparing for. I will accept on cowards in this unit! Do you understand me!" he yelled.

"Sir yes sir!" the students yelled back.

"Now the enemy will be strong! But we are stronger! And we will crush them! And then claim the Xyz dimension for Academia!"

"For Academia!" all students repeated apart from one. This student was about 16 years old and wore a slifer red uniform and had long black hair with green eyes and had a long scar running along the right side of his face. He began to move through the crowd until he got out to the front. General Hassleberry stared at him angrily.

"And just where do you think you're going Aerogan!" his voice boomed.

"I can't do this. I'm sorry but I'm leaving" Aerogan said and began to walk off. General Hassleberry gritted his teeth. How dare one of his soldiers betray him.

"You're not leaving anytime soon," he said and two muscular men blocked Aerogans path.

"What are you doing?! Let me through!" he said. The men grabbed Aerogan's arms and lifted him up into the air and walked off with him. "Let go of me!" Aerogan called but to no avail. His calls soon became more distant as he was carried through Academia. General Hassleberry smiled.

"And that soldiers is what we do with traitors," he said. "Anyone want to join him?" No answer. "Good, in three hours we move out!"

* * *

Ryu slowly rose out of bed and yawned. No nightmares. That was weird, but at least he didn't have to live through another one. He drew open his curtains to see it was a sunny day outside. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming and children were laughing happily as they walked to school. Ryu saw that most of the children were from Heartland Academy and he turned to his clock to see it read 7:39 AM.

Ryu's parents were sitting down at the table in the kitchen, having a cup of tea when they heard Ryu yell.

"OH MY GOD! I'M GONNA BE LATE AGAIN!"

Ryu's father chuckled as Ryu burst out his bedroom half dressed in his uniform.

"That boy sure has a lot of energy," Ryu's father said.

"Agreed" replied Ryu's mother. Ryu shot down the stairs while buttoning up his shirt. He rushed into the kitchen to find food while tying up his tie and almost choking himself in the process. He poured out a bowl of cereal and began to look for the milk.

"Need any help son?" his father asked.

"Nope" Replied Ryu as he poured the milk in and proceeded to eat his breakfast without a spoon. He then checked his watch to see it was 7:48 AM. "Why didn't you guys wake me?!" Ryu yelled as he dashed upstairs.

"We thought it would teach you a lesson about staying up late again. Also, you are grounded and banned from dueling for a week" his mother said and received an angry yell from Ryu upstairs.

Ryu then came running out his room with his bag over his back and shoes on his feet. He leapt downstairs and ran towards to door.

"Iloveyouguysbye!" Ryu said very quickly as he opened the door and slammed it shut. Ryu's father let out a chuckle.

"That boy. I am going to miss taking care of him. Asuka! It's almost time" he said to Asuka who emerged from around the corner.

* * *

Ryu tore through the streets, dodging people left and right. In all his haste he had forgotten his skateboard. Now he was left to run to school to avoid getting a detention. As he rounded a corner he smacked straight into another person and the pair of them fell backwards.

 _"I have got to stop doing that,"_ he thought.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the person said. Ryu rubbed his head and then looked over to see that the boy had red eyes and red hair with blue bangs that went down to his shoulders. The boy wore a red T-shirt with pictures of various treasures on it such as crowns and gold coins, brown cargo trousers and blue shoes. He also wore various coloured wristbands on his arms.

"Sorry" Ryu apologised as he helped the boy up. "but listen I gotta jet, so sorry," Ryu said and then took off into a run. As he ran, Ryu could feel a burning sensation in his chest.

At last, Ryu made it to the street where Heartland Academy was. Lucky for him he had made it somehow with five minutes to spare.

"Ruri! Yuto!" Ryu called as he saw Ruri and Yuto walking along with some other people Ryu recognised.

"Hey Allen, Sayaka. You're back from study leave I take it?" Ryu asked his other friends.

"Yeah, we studied together and are so gonna ace this duel exam!" Allen said excitedly. "How was the party?"

"The party was great! We got to meet so many people there including Aaron Hunter" Ryu said.

"What?! You got to meet Aaron Hunter?!" Allen exclaimed, clearly jealous.

"That's right" Ryu replied. "Shun even got his autograph. Speak of the devil, where is he anyway?" he asked.

"Shun went with Makoto down to the north park to get some drinks and food," Sayaka said to him.

"All the way up there? They better hurry or there gonna be late" Ryu said. The others agreed and they all walked through the gates into school.

"So did you check the ban list yesterday?" Allen said.

"Yeah, the new one got posted and starts today" Yuto answered. "It's a shame that Pot of Greed is banned again" he continued.

"Yeah, but at least Return from A Different Dimension came back," Ryu said.

"Agreed," Allen said as he began walking to class with Sayaka and Ruri while Yuto and Ryu went a separate direction.

* * *

A boy with blue eyes and blond hair stood outside a small shop waiting for Shun while smoking a cigarette. Makoto looked over at the park to see all the younger kids dueling each other. He gave a small smile just as Shun walked out the store carrying a bag of food and drink. Clouds had begun to form over the sky and it looked like it would rain soon.

"Want one?" Makoto asked as he held up his lighter. Shun shook his head.

"No, you know I hate those things," Shun said grumpily.

"Eh, I was just being polite" Makoto replied as he stubbed out his cigarette. "Come on." The two began to walk back to school when there was a flash of lightning which struck the park.

"What the hell?!" Exclaimed Shun and the two boys ran over to the park to see if anyone was hurt only to stare in shock at a line of teenagers in some sort of red uniform.

"Who the hell are they?" Shun whispered to Makoto. Makoto just made an I don't know noise. All the teenagers held up their left arm in union which appeared to have some sort of duel disk on it which was shaped like a shield. A blade then burst from them which was shaped like a sword. Many people were confused by this. Out of nowhere a group of teenagers showed up and activated their duel disks. Did they want to duel? Nobody knew. Each duelist drew a hand and then placed a monster on the duel disk in absolute silence. A monster then appeared which Shun recognised. It was mechanical so it was obviously a machine type. One arm was a shield that looked eerily similar to a gear. The other arm was a long and frightening pointed spear. It was brown and its face was an assortment of many gears and one glowing eye. Ancient Gear Knight Shun thought it was called.

The duelists thrust their hands forward and each monster's eye glowed orange before firing an orange energy beam which hit the ground and exploded, throwing some people back. All hell ensured next. People began to scream and turned to run, Shun and Makoto included. They had dumped the shopping and had begun to follow everyone else. As Shun ran he heard people begin to scream and then the screams were cut off instantly. As well as that there were purple flashes. Shun turned around only to see a woman get hit with a purple beam coming from one of the teenager's duel disks before disappearing from the sight. Shun turned back and ran faster. Up ahead he could see the yellow beams hit cars and making them explode which injured many people.

He went to check behind him only to see a purple beam heading his way.

"Shun!" Makoto called as he dragged Shun out of the path of the beam only for him to walk into the path of one himself. The beam that was supposed to his Shun zapped a little boy who was on the ground crying. Shun then tripped over as he could no longer feel Makoto's grip one his arm.

"MAKOTO!" he shrieked and turned to see one of the teenager's, a girl, standing in front of him. A card ejected from the duel disk and she held it up to Shun for him to see Makoto's horrified look on the card.

"Don't worry" she giggled. "You'll be joining him soon." She smiled and raised her duel disk at Shun. Anger flowed through Shuns body and his adrenalin kicked in. He kicked the duel disk out the way and shot up, punching the girl in the face in the process. The girl had no time to dodge as she was too busy writhing in pain at Shun's kick.

"Hey!" Shun heard a voice call and saw a boy point his duel disk at him. Acting on instinct, Shun dragged the girl in front of him, just as the beam was fired from the duel disk.

"NO!" She screamed as she was carded.

"Annie! No!" the boy yelled and glared at Shun. "You! You'll pay for that you…you…Xyz scum!" he spat in disgust. He raised his duel disk and fired again but Shun had already run out the way and was running for his life down the street. Shun didn't care what happened next. He only cared about one thing.

Ruri.

* * *

 **And the invasion begins! I just had to make Shun epic because he is awesome. I have actually been dying to get to this point and finally we're here! From now on I can only say things get darker from this point onwards and all of the characters will soon come together and meet up. So, how will Ryu and the others react? And who will come to their defence? That will be answered in the next chapter! Plus, there will defiantly be a lot of dueling in the next chapter since there was none in this one. If you like this chapter, then leave a review why and I will see you guys in the next update!**

 **Bye!**


	10. Chapter 8

**Hello, welcome back to the next chapter everyone! I did promise that I would have it up shortly like I said in my new Zexal fanfiction and I do apologise for not updating this in a while but my final exams came around and I had to focus most of my time on them. I already had the chapter almost done, but sheer laziness prevented me from finishing. I then decided to take a big break and decide my next plan and what direction the plot would take. I've got most of the later stuff figured out so now I can finally get back on track. Now that Exams are over I can now start updating more frequently in the summer and flesh out several other ideas I have and believe me, I have quite a few. Basically, in a nutshell, my life's been hell XD. But I am determined to finish this fic. So, without further ado, enjoy.**

Chapter 8: Full Steam Ahead!

Ryu panted heavily as he rushed across the court. The first lesson was P.E, and his class was playing basketball. Ryu had ended up on the opposite team as Yuto and the game state was currently at 2-2. Ryu currently had the ball and was dribbling it down the field. Ryu stopped and yelled out to his teammate before attempting a pass. The teammate was about to catch the ball before it was plucked out of the air by none other than Yuto. Ryu only groaned in annoyance and disappointment as Yuto managed to dribble all the way to the hoop and score.

Before anyone could get the ball, the whistle blew, signalling that the game had ended and left the score at 2-4. Ryu walked up to Yuto before speaking.

"Ok, you win. I guess you are better one."

"I told you so" Yuto replied with a smug grin. Ryu groaned and hung his head in defeat while Yuto laughed. First grounded and now this? This was not going to be a good day. His attention was soon caught by the sight of his classmates murmuring and pointing to something far in the distance. Both teenagers looked over in the distance, only to see a huge pillar of smoke rising from within the city.

"Isn't that where the north park is?" Ryu asked. Yuto looked at him with a fearful look in his eye.

"Oh no" Yuto breathed. That was where Shun was. He usually walked past Shun on the way to the changing rooms for PE. This time, however, Shun was nowhere to be seen. Yuto had just assumed that he was still in the north park and running late.

Clouds began to gather in the sky, wrapping it in a dark blanket. Ryu looked up to see flashes in the sky, which he assumed was lighting. Lightning suddenly shot down from the sky in a flash and hit the ground in front of the students.

"Holy Shit!" Exclaimed Ryu as he and Yuto jumped back in fright. The pair had to cover their eyes as a bright light was coming from where the lightning had struck. Ryu tried to look through his eyes to where the light was coming from. Squinting, he could see the silhouettes of several figures.

A scream was suddenly heard and an explosion shook the ground as Ryu and Yuto were knocked over by the force. The pair looked up to see several teenagers in a red uniform. One of them smiled as they raised a duel disk with a shield and sword design. There was a purple flash and one of the female students suddenly disappeared. Ryu and Yuto stared in horror as the teenager smiled and raised his duel disk again. All the students screamed as they began to run. Yuto and Ryu followed suit. The sound of screaming and their teacher's frantic yelling could he heard from behind as they ran. Suddenly, a student was struck down by a purple beam before disappearing. Ryu looked back to see the teenagers in the red uniform chasing them.

"Hurry! Hurry up!" several students yelled. Ryu looked back in front of him to see some students standing by a pair of double doors, waving their arms at them. "Go! Go! Go!" They yelled as Ryu, Yuto and what was left of the students ran in. The students slammed to doors shut with an almighty crash, while Ryu, Yuto and the others struggled to regain their breath.

"What the hell is going on?!" a red-haired girl asked from down the corridor. Yuto looked up to see that several students had left their classes and were now standing in the corridor, trying to get a grasp of the situation.

"I don't know" Replied a blond boy, the one who had held one of the doors open to let the fleeing students in. "Whoever they are, they defiantly aren't peaceful" he added as he looked out the small glass window on the door.

"No shit Sherlock! They tried to kill us!" a brown-haired boy burst out. This then sparked up a debate between many of the students who were now bickering with each other.

"Wait, Shut up! They're doing something!" The blond-haired boy yelled. The students soon stopped arguing and turned to face the door.

"Doing what?" Snapped the same brown-haired boy. There was silence for a moment before…

"GET DOWN!" The blond boy yelled. The door was soon blasted off its hinges, sending the boy and any other students near it flying.

"It's honestly pathetic of you hiding behind such a measly means of defence," a voice said from within the smoke that the explosion caused. Ryu looked up from where he had been knocked down, only to see three figures in the doorway. The smoke finally cleared, only to reveal that it was the same teenagers in the strange red uniform, two boys, one girl. Each one was accompanied by a large mechanical dog that was green in colour and growling quietly. It had a pair of enormous fangs on its lower jaw that took up most of the space in its maw and a large yellow gear on its belly. Each duelist appeared to be equipped with a shield like duel disk that was producing a sword blade.

 **Current Status of Duel:**

 **All Slifer Reds (x3): 4000**

 **Ancient Gear Hunting Hound: Level 3/EARTH/Machine/1000 ATK/1000 DEF (x3) (One each)**

 **No active or set spell and traps**

"But, then again" the middle boy continued. "You're just all trash." Ryu gritted his teeth as the boy began to walk forward.

"Battle! Iron Wolf! Direct attack!"

Seemingly out of nowhere, appeared a blue train with flame designs on it and the front having a head shaped like a wolf. The train charged into the boy, knocking him out the duel as well as himself while his comrades jumped back in surprise.

 **Slifer Red no.1: 4000 – 4400 = 0**

 **Slifer Red no.1: LOSE**

"What the hell?" the girl asked as she stared at the menacing train. The unconscious soldier was soon engulfed by a blue light before disappearing.

 **Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf: Rank 4/EARTH/Machine/Xyz/4400 ATK (Due to Limiter Removal. Originally 2200)/2200 DEF/Overlay Units: 0**

"That monster" Ryu breathed before he heard a voice.

"Yo Ryu! Yuto!" Both teenagers soon walked to the doorway and turned to see both Allen and Sayaka running towards them, duel disks active.

"Allen! Sayaka! You guys ok?" Yuto called to them.

"Us? You should be more worried about yourselves!" Allen practically yelled.

"Geez, calm down. We're fine. So, what happened?" Yuto asked. Allen paused before speaking, trying to gather as much information as possible in his head.

"Well, me and Sayaka were in the middle of our exam when these guys suddenly appeared and tore up the place," Allen said while pointing to the remaining Slifer Red duelists. "I could tell they were duelists and I already had Ironwolf out, so it wasn't too hard to beat these guys" he finished.

"How did you manage to attack us? You weren't even a part of this duel" The other Slifer Red boy asked. Allen grinned and turned to face him.

"Battle Royale mode was already in effect so I was free to attack your friend, and I thought I might end it quickly by juicing up my monster with Limiter Removal" Allen answered. His face then became deadly serious. "Who are you? And why are you attacking us?" He asked.

"That's none of your business" the girl scoffed.

"Fine, don't say anything, but you're going to regret what you did to our home" Allen growled. "Right Sayaka?" Sayaka looked up at him.

"Oh! erm…right" she answered, unsure. Currently on her field was a girl that had a pair of blue butterfly wings and was dressed in a blue cheerleading outfit with a light green skirt. She had turquoise hair with red eyes and held two orange pom poms as two yellow overlay units circled her.

 **Battle Royale Mode engaged:  
**

 **Current Status of Duel:**

 **Allen: 2200**

 **Sayaka: 1500**

 **Slifer Red no.2: 4000**

 **Slifer Red no.3: 4000**

* * *

 **Allen Field:**

 **Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf: Rank 4/EARTH/Machine/Xyz/4400 ATK (Due to Limiter Removal. Originally 2200)/2200 DEF/Overlay Units: 0**

 **No active or set spell and traps**

* * *

 **Sayaka Field:**

 **Fairy Cheer Girl: Rank 4/LIGHT/Fairy/Xyz/1900 ATK/1500 DEF/Overlay Units: 0**

 **One set spell or trap**

* * *

 **Both Slifer Red's Field:**

 **Ancient Gear Hunting Hound: Level 3/EARTH/Machine/1000 ATK/1000 DEF (x2) (One each)**

"Allen, we don't have our duel disks, so we can't defend ourselves. Can you cover us until we get them?" Ryu asked. Allen flashed a smile at him.

"You're all covered, now go!" He assured.

"Thanks" Ryu replied before turning to the students. "Everyone! Let's get out at the other exit down the corridor! Now move!" He yelled. The students began to move, most had already left when the Slifer's arrived.

"We'll leave it to you," Yuto said before he left with Ryu.

"Wait!" The Slifer Red girl said and took a step forward just as the other boy raised his hand.

"No, let them go. Out comrades will get them" he said. "For now, make your move!" he yelled at Allen.

"I plan to!" Allen snapped back before looking at his hand.

" _Ryu and Yuto are counting on me to cover them, so I can't let them down!"_ He thought. "I play one card face-down and end my turn!" He announced.

"Don't forget! Because of Limiter Removal, your monster gets destroyed!" The boy reminded him. As soon as those words left his mouth Ironwolf exploded, taking away Allen's last line of defence.

" _Damn, he's right. My face down can only cover one of us. I must protect Sayaka"_ Allen thought and he gave a worried glance towards Sayaka.

 **Allen**

 **Hand: 1**

"M-My turn!" Sayaka announced as she shakily drew her first card.

 **Sayaka: 1500**

 **Hand: 3**

Sayaka's hand couldn't stop shaking as she added the card to her hand. She was scared out of her mind. She had seen what these guys had done to her teacher and was afraid she'd be next.

"Hey! Sayaka!" Sayaka turned to see that it was Allen who had called her name. "Don't be afraid. Remember Yuto and Ryu are counting on us!" he reminded her. Sayaka's eyes widened.

" _That's right. They're both counting on me. Not only them but Allen too. I can't let them all down"_ she thought. "Yeah, your right," she said and looked back at the Slifer Students with new confidence shining in her eyes. The Slifer boy let out a laugh.

"What a pathetic attempt at a pep speech. Your friends will be destroyed and then carded by our comrades. Just like all those others" he laughed. Sayaka stared at her hand, try to ignore him the best she could.

Sayaka finally picked out a card. "I play the spell **Fairy Cheer** , now my fairy gains 1000 attack" She explained. Fairy Cheer Girl began to wave her pom-poms around as a gold aura began to glow around her.

 **Fairy Cheer Girl ATK: 1900 + 1000 = 2900**

"Cheer Girl! Attack that Hunting Hound!" Sayaka announced. The cheerleader then charged the mechanical hound, and with a mighty yell, slammed her pom pom into it. Hunting Hound gave out a mechanical screech as it was flung back and the destroyed. Hunting Hound's owner, the boy, braced as the force of the attack hit him and knocked him off his feet.

 **Slifer Red no.2: 4000 – 1900 = 2100**

"I end my turn!" Sayaka said proudly. She now felt confident that she had managed to take a large chunk out of her opponents lifepoints. The Slifer Red girl growled at her opponent.

"You little bitch" She snarled angrily. "I'll make sure you and your pathetic friend pay for that! My-"

"My turn!" A voice yelled, cutting off the girl.

"What the?" The girl said and looked up to find the source of the voice.

"I know that voice" Allen said as he whipped around to see a familiar and surprising sight. Sayaka was also surprised.

"Hey bro, hope these punks aren't giving you too much trouble," Anna Kozuki said.

"Sis/Anna!" Both teens yelled. Anna smiled and jumped down off her hovercraft and in front of Allen and Sayaka. Anna wore a pink and white shirt that reached below her waist, black compression shorts and a pair of boots that were the same colour as her shirt.

"Anna, what are you doing here?" Allen asked and couldn't help but give a huge grin at seeing his sister after several months of being apart.

"I finished work down in Tokyo and decided to take a break and visit my old stomping grounds," Anna said with a smile. "Then these guys came out of nowhere and started attacking me. But I finally got to put that thing to good use" Anna finished, motioning to her cannon/hovercraft hybrid.

"Oh great, another one" the Slifer Red girl groaned. Anna spun around.

"I heard that!" She snapped. "Don't think I'm gonna let you get away with attacking my bro and his girlfriend!" Allen blushed at this.

"Anna! We're not dating! We're just friends!" Allen yelled annoyed. Sayaka was also blushing slightly.

"Say what you want but it doesn't change a thing. Even if you beat us, more will come. Your future is bleak" the Slifer Red girl said.

"Oh wow," Anna said, sarcasm dripping off her words. "Is your ass jealous of the shit that just came out of your mouth? Because there's a whole tonne of it" she sneered. This made the Slifer Red girl go completely red while Allen and Sayaka giggled.

"You-You s-shut up!" She stammered. Anna stood there with the cockiest grin ever. All she had to do was keep pushing their buttons. It was the best way she could pay them back for nearly blasting her out the sky.

"I'll reiterate that. All I hear is a load of crap coming from you. You all act tough because you're in a group." Anna paused impressively. "But once you're alone…" Anna trailed off. The girl took a step back in fear. Anna had won. "You just easy pickings. I draw!" She finished.

"Yeah, Anna! You tell'em!" Allen yelled, fist pumping. Sayaka smiled even more. Anna's return had filled her with confidence. They would survive. They would win.

"I'll show you punks a real machine monster," Anna said as she slapped a card on her duel disk. "But first, I summon Night Express Knight!" The sound of a train horn was heard before a sleek and modern express passenger train thundered onto the battlefield. The only difference was that the engine had a medieval knight on top of it, complete with a javelin and a shield. It screeched to halt next to Anna.

 **Knight Express Knight: Level 10/EARTH/Machine/3000 ATK/3000 DEF**

"What?!" The other Slifer Red boy yelled. "A 3000 attack point monster on the first turn?"

"Yes, but it's attack points become 0 since I summoned it without a tribute" Anna explained. True to Anna's word, the monster's attack dropped all the way to 0.

 **Knight ATK: 3000 – 3000 = 0**

The Slifer Red girl laughed. "What was the point in that?"

"Oh, you'll soon see," Anna said with a mischievous smile. "Since I summoned Night Express Knight I can summon this by halving its stats. Rise! Heavy Freight Train Derricrane!" Another large locomotive clattered onto the field. This one was an orange diesel train that was hauling a flatbed with a large crane resting on top.

 **Heavy Freight Train Derricrane: Level 10/EARTH/Machine/ 1400 ATK (Originally 2800)/1000 DEF (Originally 2000)**

"Alright! Here comes big sis' signature move!" Allen cheered. Sayaka then took note of both monster's levels.

"Two level tens" the Slifer Red boy breathed before Sayaka could. Anna was grinning again.

"I overlay my Night Express Knight and Heavy Freight Train Derricrane!" The two monsters turned fully orange before spiralling up into the air. A galaxy portal opened in front of Anna and the two monsters sailed in. "Clear the mainline! The ultimate machine of destruction is comin' through!" Anna chanted. Meanwhile, in the overlay network, something big was being built. Three tracks were formed as two flatbeds rolled forward. Both flatbeds were connected by a red metal object that resembled legs slightly. "Nothing can hide from its devastating power of annihilation!" Anna continued. Something large was lowered and loaded onto the metal 'legs' before a light shot out the portal.

"Xyz Summon! Destroy Rank 10! Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max!" Out of the portal came a large, green, square-shaped object that was attached to a pair of flatbeds that gave it mobility. The massive monster came to a stop next to Anna.

 **Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max: Rank 10/EARTH/Machine/Xyz/3000 ATK/3000 DEF/ Overlay Units: 2**

"All that for a giant box?" The Slifer Red girl laughed.

"Don't underestimate the power of my canon" Anna said. "Ready Maxy?" As if on cue, the giant box began to change shape and the barrel of a gigantic cannon slowly extended out the machine. The Slifer's jaws dropped at the size of the cannon that was aiming directly at them.

"Allen! We're back with the-" Ryu began as he ran back through the corridor to the duel, but stopped at the intimidating form of Gustav Max. "Holy" was all he could say as he stared in awe.

"Ryu! What are you-" Yuto said as he ran up to Ryu, but also stopped at the sight of the gigantic machine. Many other students had arrived, Ruri among them, and were staring at Gustav Max. Anna laughed.

"Looks like we've got a crowd to see me destroy you," she said and picked out another card. "I equip Gustav Max with the spell **Big Cannon**! This card can only be equipped to him and when he deals you damage by his effect, that damage is increased by 1000."

A large silver barrel soon appeared out of thin air and attached itself onto the end of Gustav Max's cannon, further extending the barrel length.

"Effect damage?" The Slifer Red girl asked.

"That's right" Anna answer. "I activate Gustav Max's effect! By using one overlay unit I can slam you with 2000 points of damage!"

"2000!" The Slifer Red boy exclaimed. One of the overlay units was absorbed by the mighty cannon before it aimed at the boy. "True, but because of Big Cannon, the damage is increased to 3000. Cataclysmic Big Cannon!" Anna yelled. The large machine obeyed and aimed its barrel at the Slifer Red boy. The boy took one step back in fear before the massive machine fired a yellow beam at him.

 **Slifer Red no.2: 2100 – 3000 = 0**

 **Slifer Red no.2: LOSE**

The girl could only stare in horror as her teammate was knocked off his feet by the explosion. He was then engulfed by a blue light as disappeared. The girl looked back and saw the giant cannon right in front of her.

"Hey, Allen. Great minds think, alike don't they?" Anna said.

"They do?" Allen said confused.

"Yeah, they do, cause I play the spell Limiter Removal!" Anna replied. A blue aura glowed around Gustav Max as its attack power increased to an astounding level.

 **Gustav Max ATK: 3000 x 2 = 6000**

"Woah, 6000 attack points," Yuto said in awe.

"She's good, but who is she?" Ryu asked. The Slifer Red girl was now shaking in fear at the massive monster. All she had was one flimsy monster on her field and that was it. This was supposed to be easy. She didn't think that Xyz would have any good duelists, but it did.

"It's like I said" Anna began, grabbing the girl's attention. "Easy pickings." Though it was a machine, Gustav Max knew what to do now. It fired another energy beam but this time aimed for Ancient Gear Hunting Hound. The mechanical hound could only look up and accept its fate as it was swept out of existence. The resulting blast and explosion that shortly followed sent the girl flying.

 **Slifer Red no.3: 4000 – 5000 = 0**

 **Slifer Red no.3: LOSE**

Anna grinned at her accomplishment but soon gave a confused look as the girl disappeared in a blue light. She then shrugged it off. "Eh, hopefully, that taught her a lesson." Anna then turned to face the others. "Hi there, you must be Allen's friends. I'm his big sis Anna" introduced as she held out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you" Ryu answered and walked up to shake her hand. "I'm Ryu by the way." Yuto shrugged. "We might as well get introductions out of the way. I'm Yuto" he said.

"I'm Ruri. Thanks for that" Ruri chimed in.

"It's no problem" Anna replied sheepishly while scratching the back of her head.

"Do you know what's going on?" Asked Yuto.

"Sorry pal, but I'm just as confused as you are" Anna answered. "I just got here, and suddenly these guys are trying to shoot me out the air. It was lucky that I got here though."

"Right, well we need to move and get all these students safe" Yuto said motioning to the several students behind him.

"Okay. Don't worry, I got your back" Anna said and looked at the students. "Alright, you lot! Listen up! We need to move! So were going to move under the cover of this big lug here!" Anna said, Motioning towards her Gustav Max. A majority of the students nodded and Anna was now smiling again. "Alright then! I set one card facedown and end my turn! Let's go!" Gustav Max suddenly exploded causing Anna to start panicking. "What the hell?! What happened?!" She cried.

"Um, Anna? You played Limiter Removal, remember?" Allen said.

"Huh? I did?" Anna said confused as she looked at her duel disk. "Oh!…. Shit."

* * *

He wanted to be sick, he really wanted to. Every so often he could see another one in the mist that surrounded him. This one was, unfortunately, a toddler. It was so quiet and it felt as if time had stopped. Shun just winced and continued to limp into the fog. Shun was now limping in a city that moments ago was full of happy smiling children. Now it was a place of absolute terror, one could say hell on Earth. Buildings lay decimated, cars destroyed and burnt to a crisp. There were also the bodies. Shun shuddered at this. He didn't know how many there were. They just laid there, motionless in pools of their own and others blood. Some were adults, but most were children. Every step sent another wave of pain shooting up his injured leg. A building had nearly collapsed on top of him and several others and the rubble had caught Shun's leg. He had luckily managed to get away by himself.

Now he was all alone.

The ones who had disappeared in the purple light were lucky. At least they didn't suffer the same horrific fate as these ones. Shun's mind then turned to Ruri and for a moment he was horrified that this had happened to her. He could see her now, covered in blood and slowly staggering towards him.

"Shun" she whimpered weakly before collapsing in his arms.

He heard her heart stop…

Shun suddenly snapped back into reality when he heard a group of voices. They were close.

He limped faster, attempting to escape his pursuers. He didn't see the body of the woman before it was too late. He tripped over her, cursing loudly as he fell. He then heard raised voices and the thunder of footsteps coming towards him.

"No" he breathed. This couldn't be it, this couldn't be the end. Pain pulsed up his now bleeding leg as three figures came out of the fog, all in red uniforms.

"Well look what we found here" chuckled one of the boys. He raised his duel disk. "Any last words?" He asked. Shun just shut his eyes. The boy smiled. "Though so."

Shun waited for the end. It didn't come. He opened his eyes to see someone standing in front of him. This person was a boy that looked no older than 15 and appeared to have been in a fight due to his dusty and slightly torn clothing. He had red eyes and red hair with blue bangs that came down to his shoulders and was a bit messy. He wore a red T-shirt with pictures of various treasures on it, brown trousers and blue shoes. He also had various coloured wristbands that went along his arms. "Who are you?" Asked the same boy in the red uniform. The stranger glared at him.

"I'm the one who's going to stop you" he answered. He turned his head back to Shun. Shun could see it. There was no emotion in his face, save anger. It was well hidden by the strangers calm but menacing expression.

"You ok?" He asked Shun. Shun only nodded. The stranger turned back towards his opponents. One of the other boys smirked.

"Do you really think you can beat all of us?" He asked.

"Don't worry, this won't take long" The stranger said calmly to Shun as he activated his duel disk, ignoring the other boy's remark.

"Tch, I'll teach you for disrespecting us," the same boy said and all three activated their duel disks.

 **Battle Royale Mode engaged:  
**

 **DUEL!**

 **Dai: 4000**

 **VS**

 **Vanguard Elite no.1: 4000**

 **Vanguard Elite no.2: 4000**

 **Vanguard Elite no.3: 4000**

* * *

The sound of screams and explosions echoed through the streets of the dying city as Anna lead the group of the survivors thought the war-torn streets. People were running about and a large fire was spreading that threatened to swallow everything in its path. The group stopped in the middle of a crossroad while people ran past them, most coming from the same direction.

"Anna! Where do we go?!" Yuto yelled.

"Hang on! I'm thinking!" Anna yelled back. She frantically looked around, now desperate to find any means of escape.

"Think faster!" Ryu snapped at her. Before Anna could argue back one of the girls in the group screamed.

"Look out!" Screeched Ruri. Anna turned to see several brown objects flying towards them. From what Anna could see they appeared to be bird-like, only mechanical. They also sported several gears on their bodies and had a single yellow glowing eye.

The leader of the flock let out a loud caw before the flock began to rain down yellow energy beams on the fleeing group.

"Move!" Ryu called and then ran forward. He activated his duel disk and slapped any card on, praying it was a monster. His pleas were heard as the card was Dragonic Swordsman. The dragon knew what to do and began to deflect the energy beams with its twin swords. Some of the deflected beams hit one of the mechanical birds and it screeched in pain. Smoke trailed from its side as it came crashing down. The bird slammed into the ground hard, causing a small explosion as it perished. Ryu and Anna braced at the force and then Ryu worriedly looked over at Yuto and Ruri, only to see that they were behind the cover of Pyramid Turtle. Allen and Sayaka were also covered by Fairy Cheer Girl.

 **Battle Royale Mode engaged:  
**

 **Current Status of Duel:**

 **Allen: 2200**

 **Sayaka: 1500**

 **Ryu: 4000**

 **Yuto: 4000**

 **Anna: 4000**

* * *

 **Allen Field:**

 **No Monsters**

 **One set spell or trap**

* * *

 **Sayaka Field:**

 **Fairy Cheer Girl: Rank 4/LIGHT/Fairy/Xyz/1900 ATK/1500 DEF/Overlay Units: 0**

 **One set spell or trap**

* * *

 **Anna Field:**

 **One set spell or trap**

* * *

 **Ryu Field:**

 **Dragonic Swordsman: Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/1400 ATK/1000 DEF**

 **No active or set spell and traps**

* * *

 **Yuto Field:**

 **Pyramid Turtle: Level 4/EARTH/Zombie/ATK 1200/DEF 1400**

 **No active or set spell and traps**

* * *

 **Ancient Gear Vulture: Level 4/EARTH/Machine/1000 ATK/1000 DEF (x6)**

Some of the other students weren't as quick or lucky as they failed in summoning a monster to defend themselves from the vulture's onslaught.

"No!" Anna cried out as some the defenceless students were hit by the energy beams. Some students went flying and others were terribly injured. Ruri cupped her hands over her mouth in shock while Yuto stood there emotionless. Sayaka was crying and even Allen fought back the tears at the sight of this atrocity. The resulting energy beams had killed some of the students while others stood there with severed limbs. Some were crying, others freaking out. Some were screaming the names of their friends.

The vultures, now having seen that their work was done, flew past Anna and Ryu and off into the distance. Anna could feel the tears streaming down her face. She whipped around angrily.

"HOW COULD YOU!" She roared into the smoke. "They were just children!" Ryu bit his lip hard as he desperately tried not to cry. Although he only knew most of these students for just over a week, he couldn't help but feel sad about the loss. Ruri could help but begin to cry at the loss of some of her classmates. She buried her face into Yuto's chest and sobbed while Yuto held her gently in an effort to comfort her. Ruri's thoughts then turned to her brother. She felt something wrench in her chest and then felt sick. She was worried, very worried.

" _Shun, please be safe"_ Ruri begged in her head. _"You're the only family I have left."_

"Damn it!" Ryu roared as he fell to his knees and punched the ground. He didn't care about the pain, he didn't care about anything anymore.

"Come on. We need to help them" Anna said to him. Her voice was hollow. Ryu growled as he got up and walked over to the others with Anna. Once they got there, they soon realised the full extent of the damage. Ryu shut his eyes and looked away from the crying students. Ruri had now stopped crying and her face was still buried in Yuto's chest.

"What do we do?" Yuto asked quietly. Anna just looked at him.

"I don't know, but we need to find some cover" she answered. Anna then walked over to where Allen and Sayaka were to comfort them. Ryu sighed as he opened his eyes and the growled angrily.

"I don't believe this, I don't fucking believe this!" He yelled and kicked the ground in a rage. Ruri jumped at his outburst. Yuto glared at him angrily.

"Ryu! Calm down. It's no use getting angry" he scolded.

Ryu looked at him.

"Sorry, I just…" he trailed off. "I don't know anymore."

"Look at me Ryu" Yuto began. Ryu listened with interest. "We're going to be fine. We'll find Shun and Makoto and then find a way out" he said.

"Yeah, yeah sure" Ryu replied. He then looked over to the injured students. "Looks like we got to help," he said sadly and began to walk over.

"How precious, this little love fest almost makes me want to gag" a voice rang out. Ryu and Yuto turned to see a figure in a red uniform walking out of the smoke down the street.

"We have just watched our friends die, and we do not need this!" Ryu screamed at the figure. The figure, which was male, smiled.

"And frankly, I don't care. I've got a job to do and I'm going to complete it. And that job is wiping out pathetic Xyzians like you." Anna ran up beside Yuto and Ryu, ready for a fight. Their duel disks were still active and it was three against one. Anna growled angrily. "I'm not gonna let you get away with this! I'll kick every single one of your asses!" She yelled.

" _Yes! Pay them back for what they have done! Destroy them!"_ The demonic voice in Ryu said.

"Yes, I will" Ryu agreed and as soon as he said that, he was engulfed in a purple darkness.

Anna and Yuto stared in shock at what was happening. The darkness soon dispersed and Ryu now had the same clothes and hairstyle he had in his dream. He looked down at his arms and then his trousers in confusion.

"Huh? Would someone explain what the fuck just happened?" He asked.

"Today just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Yuto said.

 _"Good, while you're in this form it is easier for me to directly talk to you as well as use my power,"_ The demonic voice said.

" _Ok?"_ Ryu thought back but then refocused on his opponents. "Who cares what happened, it's still three against one," he said to the boy in the red uniform. The boy smirked.

"I wouldn't be too sure," he said. There was a loud whirring noise before a large foot stepped out of the smoke, scratch that, three feet. Each foot was blue in colour and mechanical too. A hand soon move out of the smoke that oddly resembled a dog's head, complete with red glowing eyes. Ryu, Anna and Yuto could only stare in horror as all three titans moved out of the smoke.

The three giant monsters resembled dogs slightly as their hands and shoulder pads were in the shape of dog's heads with red glowing eyes. Each one was dark blue in colour and had a ginormous yellow gear on its back, as well as several more that connected their arms to their shoulders. The monsters looked down on the helpless humans with a single yellow glowing eye. They stood there emotionless, waiting for their next orders. Alongside the boy stood two more boys, each one having their own duel disk active.

 **New players joining:**

 **All Vanguard Elite Field:**

 **Ancient Gear Chaos Giant: Level 10/DARK/Machine/Fusion/4500 ATK/3000 DEF (x3) (One each)**

 **No active or set spell and traps**

Anna gritted her teeth as she stared at the mechanical giants.

"Why you" she growled with clenched fists. The middle boy smiled.

"So, whose first?" He said.

"Don't worry guys, I can handle this" Anna said.

"Says the one who destroyed her own monster" Yuto replied.

"Hey! It was on accident!" Anna argued back. "I forgot I played the stupid spell!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah! In the space of three freaking minutes!" Ryu yelled at her.

"Enough!" A voice bellowed. All eyes turned towards the source which came from the top of a building that was next to the current duel. The building looked like it had seen better days, but it was still standing and holding up the three figures on top. "The way you are arguing clearly indicates that you are not fit to complete this duel. Leave this to the more experienced duelists" the middle figure spoke. Those three figures were:

Misael, IV and Ryoga Kamishiro.

* * *

 _Cards made by me_

 **Fairy Cheer**

 _Spell_

 _Effect: Target one Fairy-type monster you control; it gains 1000 ATK until the end of the turn. Once per turn, except the turn, this card was sent to the graveyard, if a Fairy-type monster would be destroyed by a card effect; you can banish this card from your graveyard and that monster is not destroyed._

 **Big Cannon**

 _Equip spell_

 _Effect: Equip only to a rank 10 Earth Machine type Xyz monster. If the equipped monster would inflict damage by its effect, increase that damage by 1000._

 **Ancient Gear Vulture: Level 4/EARTH/Machine/1000 ATK/1000 DEF**

 _Effect: Once per turn, you can inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent. If you control no other monsters; you can banish this card and Ancient Gear monsters from your graveyard, fusion summon one fusion monster using this card and the banished monsters as fusion materials. You can only use this effect of Ancient Gear Vulture once per turn._

 **And so, the battle begins! I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce Anna into the story. The funny thing was that I though Allen was related to Gauche for some reason, probably that hair. After some research, I then found out that he was related to Anna, who knew? Anyway, our heroes are now going to fight the toughest battle of their life, and poor Shun is stuck with the menacing Dai. If you liked this chapter then leave a review why and I will see you in the next update!**

 **Bye!**


	11. Chapter 9

**Uggh! I am so glad I finally got this next chapter out.**

 **It's been a little while now hasn't it? Well, school started up again and I had other issues in life to deal with again. On top of that, starting to look for a job as well. That leaves me with little to no time to do writing, but I'm still going to get through this no matter what! Anyway! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter 9: Warriors of Xyz

 **Battle Royal Mode engaged:**

 **Current Status of Duel:**

 **Allen: 2200**

 **Sayaka: 1500**

 **Ryu: 4000**

 **Yuto: 4000**

 **Anna: 4000**

* * *

 **Allen Field:**

 **No Monsters**

 **One set spell or trap**

* * *

 **Sayaka Field:**

 **Fairy Cheer Girl: Rank 4/LIGHT/Fairy/Xyz/1900 ATK/1500 DEF/Overlay Units: 0**

 **One set spell or trap**

* * *

 **Anna Field:**

 **One set spell or trap**

* * *

 **Ryu Field:**

 **Dragonic Swordsman: Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/1400 ATK/1000 DEF**

 **No active or set spell and traps**

* * *

 **Yuto Field:**

 **Pyramid Turtle: Level 4/EARTH/Zombie/ATK 1200/DEF 1400**

 **No active or set spell and traps**

* * *

 **All Vanguard Elite Field:**

 **Ancient Gear Chaos Giant: Level 10/DARK/Machine/Fusion/4500 ATK/3000 DEF (x3) (One each)**

 **No active or set spell and traps**

* * *

"I don't believe it," Yuto said in utter disbelief.

"Yeah, It's Shark!" Ryu exclaimed. Ryu was extremely grateful to see him again. Now they had a fighting chance against these guys. Ryu also noticed the two other men that stood beside Shark. "Who are the other two?" He whispered to Yuto.

"I don't know" Yuto replied. "But I think that they're on our side."

"So, these are the forces of Academia," IV said from the rooftop. "I'm honestly not that impressed."

"This is no time to be impressed" scolded Misael. "We've got a job to do, now do it."

"Alright, alright. Calm down you diva" IV replied. Shark said nothing as the two bickered. He silently activated his duel disk. The two the noticed this and followed suit.

 **New players joining:**

 **Shark: 4000**

 **IV: 4000**

 **Misael: 4000**

"Ugh, more of you losers are joining" The middle Vanguard Elite member groaned. "At least try this time, unlike those imbeciles over there" he continued, referring to Ryu and the others who just growled at the remark.

"Ooo! I call first dibs!" IV yelled excitedly.

"Such a baby" Misael muttered quietly.

"I'll give you freaks a special taste of my fanservice! Draw!" IV yelled.

 **IV: 4000**

 **Hand: 6**

"I play the spell Trade In! Now I ditch a level eight monster and then draw two cards!" IV did so by sending Gimmick Puppet Dreary Doll and then drew two. "Now I play Gimmick Puppet Scissor Arms in attack mode!" The monster that IV called was very unnerving to look at. It was a humanoid monster that was completely covered in purple leather and had its legs bonded together by a leather strap. Its arms were the most frightening, however. Raised behind its head in what looked like an uncomfortable position where the monster's arms. Both arms had a giant pair of scissor blades that were attached together like scissors.

 **Gimmick Puppet Scissor Arms: Level 4/DARK/Machine/1200 ATK/600 DEF**

"I now use its effect!" Announced IV. "I now send one Gimmick Puppet to my graveyard." IV slipped another puppet into the graveyard.

"That thing is creepy" Ryu whispered to Yuto. Yuto quietly agreed.

"Now for Dreary Doll's effect! So I banish a Gimmick Puppet from the grave to summon her!" IV continued. Out of the graveyard portal slowly rose a large black coffin. The coffin's lid then slid off to reveal the monster that was inside. What was inside was another doll, this one taking the form of a young girl with blond hair. However, she had a bandage around her head and had patches of blood all over her body which were leaking through her dress. The doll gave off a creepy laugh as she rose from the coffin, creeping out the spectators.

 **Gimmick Puppet Dreary Doll: Level 8/DARK/Machine/0 ATK/0 DEF**

"Now I activate the spell **Gimmick Puppet Level Mechanism** from my hand!" Announced IV. "I can now change the level of any Gimmick Puppet monster I control to a different level! I make Scissor Arms the same level as Dreary Doll!"

 **Scissor Arms level: 4 – 8**

"Now he has two level eight monsters" Allen noted.

"I overlay my level 8 Gimmick Puppets!" IV yelled as the two nightmarish dolls turned fully purple and shot up into the air as purple energy streams. A galaxy Xyz portal opened up in the air and the two monsters flew in. shortly after, a burst of light occurred. "Twisted souls of the damned" IV began to chant as in the overlay network, a silver torso had long sliver arms attached to it. "Join as one and unleash your rage as the dark upriser!" Two silver legs were attached to the torso and a large object was lowered onto the creature's side. "Xyz summon! Appear! Rank 8! **Gimmick Puppet Silver Death**!"

Out of the portal descended a tall figure with slender arms and legs, a large puffed out chest and was mechanical and completely silver in color. Attached to the right shoulder was what appeared to be a large silver cannon. The cannon's main body was located on the shoulder and was so large that the monster had to support it from underneath with its arm as the cannon extended over the shoulder. The cannon also had barrels that all were different lengths. Two of the barrels were attached to the main barrel and were dwarfed in size and length compared to the main barrel. The first barrel only reached to half the main barrels length, while the second made it to three quarters and the main went further. The monsters head was silver too, having no mouth or distinctive nose. It just had those glowing red eyes. The creature turned to face the Chaos Giants, dominating them with its size as it was slightly taller than them.

 **Gimmick Puppet Silver Death: Rank 8/DARK/Machine/Xyz/2000 ATK/2000 DEF/Overlay Units: 2**

"Even if you summoned a large monster like that, its power still pales in comparison to our Chaos Giants!" The middle Vanguard Elite said. IV smirked.

"Who said I was attacking?" IV said. The Vanguard Elites stared at him. "I activate Silver Death's effect! By using one overlay unit, I can destroy one special summoned monster!" Silver Death absorbed one of its circling overlay units into its main barrel. A grid-like pattern ran across the cannon as it prepared to fire.

 **Silver Death Overlay Units: 1**

"Oh, and one more thing!" IV added. "The destroyed monsters attack is dealt to my opponent as damage!" The Vanguard Elites gave a look of horror as Silver Death shot a bright yellow beam of energy out of it three barrels. The beam pierced straight through one of the Chaos Giants, leaving a gaping hole in its chest. Purple electricity crackled around the monster before it exploded a second later, sending its owner flying.

 **Vanguard Elite no.2: 4000 – 4500 = 0**

 **Vanguard Elite no.2: LOSE**

Everyone stared in shock at the sudden defeat of the Chaos Giant.

"Incredible, He took it out in one move," Yuto said in awe.

"Yeah" was all Allen replied with. He sister was good, but not that good. She could never take down a powerful monster like that easily unless she had a card that could boost her monsters attack power.

"Now since a special summoned monster was destroyed, Silver Death gains 500 attack points," IV said. A white and red aura appeared around Silver Giant as its power rose.

 **Silver Death ATK: 2000 + 500 = 2500**

"Not only that, but he increased his monsters power too. IV is defiantly no joke" Ryu said.

"I end my turn. Misael, you're up" IV said as he stepped back. Misael silently stepped forward and prepared to begin his turn.

 **IV: 4000**

 **Hand: 4**

"My turn. Draw!" Misael yelled.

 **Misael: 4000**

 **Hand: 6**

"I activate the spell, **Galactic Dragon's Ergosphere**! Now since my opponent controls a monster and I don't, I get to add a Galactic Dragon monster to my hand!" Misael explained as a card ejected itself from his deck. "I'll add **Galactic Dragon – Schwarzschild** and special summon it through its effect since there is a special summoned monster on my opponent's field." There was a bright flash and on Misael's field was suddenly a long serpentine dragon which had an armored black back with a dusty orange underbelly and four red eyes. The monster strangely twisted itself into the shape of an O.

 **Galactic Dragon – Schwarzschild: Level 8/DARK/Dragon/2000 ATK/0 DEF**

"Now, through their effects, I special summon the two remaining Schwarzschild's in my hand!" Misael said as he placed two more cards on his duel disk. In a flash, there were now two more copies of the O shaped dragon.

 **Galactic Dragon – Schwarzschild: Level 8/DARK/Dragon/2000 ATK/0 DEF (x2)**

"He's got three level eight monsters just like that!" Exclaimed Ruri.

 _"Amazing,"_ thought Ryu. It had been a long time since he saw another dragon duelist, and this one commanded his deck like it was a walk in the park. He already three monsters with 2000 attack points on his first turn, something which Ryu was unable to do.

 _"You will if you just listen to me,"_ the shadow told him. Back at the duel, Misael raised his hand and prepared to Xyz Summon.

"I overlay my three Schwarzschilds!" Misael exclaimed as the three dragons turned fully purple and shot up into the air as streams of energy. A galactic Xyz portal opened in the air with the three monsters flying in and a burst of light occurring shortly afterward. "Dragon from the vast darkness of space" Misael chanted while darkness formed and created the shape of a serpentine dragon. "Let nothing escape your vengeful gravity!" Two red eyes flashed. "Xyz summon! Come forth! Rank 8! **Galactic Dragon – Black Hole**!" Out of the portal descended a dragon that was as black as the night. Its serpentine body and glaring red eyes struck fear into the hearts of the Vanguard Elites. It's arms and legs were short and tucked back to give it a more serpent-like appearance. The point of its body that people would assume to be it' chest had a jaw running across it white pearly white teeth.

 **Galactic Dragon – Black Hole: Rank 8/DARK/Dragon/Xyz/0 ATK/0 DEF/Overlay Units: 3**

"All that…for this?" Said one of the Vanguard Elites disapprovingly. "It has zero attack points."

"Haven't you learned anything?" Misael asked coldly. The boy just looked at him. "I activate Black Hole's effect! By using one overlay unit I can banish a special summoned monster my opponent controls!" Black Hole's mouth on its chest opened up, revealing a spherical green jewel. The overlay unit was absorbed into the jewel and a dark force began to pull one of the Chaos Giants in.

 **Black Hole Overlay Units: 2**

Everyone stared as the massive monster was soon sucked inside the jewel, never to be seen again.

"Now, Black Hole gains the banished monsters attack power!" Misael yelled. Black Hole let out a screeching roar as a glow washed across its body for a second.

 **Black Hole ATK: 4500**

"No-No way!" The Vanguard Elite yelled out. Now he was defenseless.

"Black Hole! Attack him directly! Gravity Banish!" Black Hole let out another roar as it then fired a black orb from its maw. The orb then hit the defenseless student and he screamed out in pain as the powerful gravity crushed his body. After a few seconds, the orb disappeared, leaving a battered Vanguard Elite there. His body glowed blue as he was then transported back from whence he came.

 **Vanguard Elite no.3: 4000 – 4500 = 0**

 **Vanguard Elite no.3: LOSE**

"I end my turn" Misael finished and Shark stepped up to finish the job.

 **Misael: 4000**

 **Hand: 3**

"Draw!" Shark yelled as he drew his card fiercely.

 **Shark: 4000**

 **Hand: 6**

"I summon **Silent Walker**!" Shark's first monster was a tripod fish that was bleached white and had three long thin legs that it stood on. Its eyes glowed an eerie bright yellow.

 **Silent Walker: Level 3/WATER/Fish/500 ATK/1100 DEF**

"Now for its effect! All monsters lose 500 attack points, and I gain 500 life points!" Shark yelled. Walker hissed loudly which caused both machines to groan in pain as their attack power was sapped. Black Hole just hissed angrily as it lost its power.

 **Silent Death ATK: 2500 – 500 = 2000**

 **Black Hole ATK: 4500 – 500 = 4000**

 **Chaos Giant ATK: 4500 – 500 = 4000**

 **Shark: 4000 + 500 = 4500**

"Now, since I control a water monster, I can special summon **Silent Remora** from my hand!" Another white bleached monster swam onto the field. This monster was a large remora that hung close to Walker, displaying typical remora behavior.

 **Silent Remora: Level 3/WATER/Fish/200 ATK/1200 DEF**

"Shark's got two level three monsters!" Ruri exclaimed.

"I overlay my level 3 Silent Remora and Walker!" Shark declared. Both monsters cried out before spiraling into the air as blue energy streams. A galaxy Xyz portal opened in the air in front of Shark and the two monsters flew in. a burst of light shortly followed.

"White lancer of justice, Rise from the deepest trenches and carry the will of the fallen!" Shark chanted. In the overlay network, a bright light enveloped the darkness and transformed into a humanoid shape. "Xyz summon! Rise from the depths rank 3! **Silent Lancer – White Ray**!" Out of the overlay network rose a figure that looked very similar to Black Ray Lancer. The difference was that this monster's body was bleached white like its other Silent counterparts and had purple lines running across its body. It wore a jet-black armor that contrasted with its white body and held two weapons. The first, in its right hand, was a long sword with a blade that curved on the end. In its left hand, it held a twin bladed white spear similar to Black Ray Lancers.

 **Silent Lancer – White Ray: Rank 3/WATER/Sea Serpent/Xyz/2100 ATK/1000 DEF/Overlay Units: 2**

"I activate Silent Lancer's effect!" Shark declared as White Ray absorbed one of its overlay units into its spear.

 **Silent Lancer Overlay Units: 1**

"Now one monster my opponent controls loses 500 attack points for every special summoned monster on the field." White Ray fired a beam of white energy at Chaos Giant who just groaned in pain.

 **Chaos Giant ATK: 4000 – 2000 = 2000**

"Now I construct the overlay network with Silent Lancer!" Shark roared as White Ray turned into blue energy and shot into a Xyz portal that just opened, much to the shock of the spectators.

"Impossible! He's Xyz summoning by using another monster?!" Yuto cried.

"I've never even heard of such a technique!" Exclaimed Allen. This was all new to them. There had been no Xyz monster in history that could be summoned by overlaying another one. Xyz monsters required levels, not ranks. Yet, Shark had just done the impossible.

"Savage beast of the deep ocean" Shark began as a dark blue energy began to form in the shape of a body. "Rise up from the dark depths and let the world know of your fearsome presence." The energy peeled away to reveal the monster's claws and torn wings. "Become king of the sea!" The monster's eyes flashed a deep yellow. "Rank-Up Xyz Change! Rise from the depths! **Silent Predator – Shark Drake Apex**!"

The overlay network shook tremendously as the monster rose out the portal. First came the monster's dragon-like head which was white in color except for a spot of dark blue where the monster's nose was. Along with that came two giant dragon-like wings with two dark blue appendages sprouting from the monsters back where the wings came from, acting like fins. The rest of the monster's body was then revealed. Two large, muscular arms with long, razor-sharp claws and two equally muscular legs with webbed feet. It was clear to the spectators that the monster had fought in several battles due to the number of scars and markings on its body, the most distinct running across its chest. It let out an earth-trembling roar which signaled to everyone that it was not to be messed with.

 **Silent Predator – Shark Drake Apex: Rank 4/WATER/Sea Serpent/Xyz/2800 ATK/2100 DEF/Overlay Units 2**

"Shark Drake! Spare no enemy!" Shark roared. Shark Drake let out a roar in agreement. "JAWS OF DEATH!" Shark Drake let out another roar as it charged up a red energy beam in its mouth before firing. The energy beam then changed into the shape of a shark's head as it chomped down on Chaos Giant. There was a sickening crunch and the sound of grinding metal as the mechanical titan was chewed up before being destroyed. "When Shark Drake battles an opponent's monster, the battle damage is doubled!" Shark shouted.

"What?!" Cried the Vanguard Elite as he was knocked off his feet by the force of the explosion and sent flying several yards.

 **Vanguard Elite no.1: 4000 – 1600 = 2400**

"Now I activate Shark Drake's effect!" Declared Shark as Shark Drake devoured one of its circling overlay units.

 **Shark Drake Overlay Units: 1**

"Now Shark Drake can attack again!" The Vanguard Elite gave a horrified look as Shark Drake reared its head back, charging up another energy beam. "JAWS OF DEATH!" At Shark's command, Shark Drake let out another red beam which shaped itself into a shark's head. The beam hit the Vanguard Elite, swallowing him up completely. When the attack died down, the poor Academia soldier was left battered and broken down the street.

 **Vanguard Elite no.1: 2400 – 2800 = 0**

 **Vanguard Elite no.1: LOSE**

The fire began to slowly creep closer to the unconscious Vanguard Elite, threatening to burn him alive. His life was spared however as a blue flash zapped him back to Academia. Shark lowered his duel disk once the Vanguard Elite was gone. Shark Drake slowly turned around and held out its hand. Shark walked onto Shark Drake's palm along with IV and Misael and Shark Drake lowered them down. After the stepped of it hand, Shark Drake disappeared in a burst of gold particles along with the other monsters and cards.

 **Duel Status: Terminated**

Once everyone's duel disks had deactivated, Ryu was engulfed by a purple light. Once the purple light died down, Ryu was back in his school uniform. He clutched his head as a wave of pain shot through him. Shark walked over to him, Yuto and Anna.

"We're too exposed out here, if we can make it to the stadium, we might be able to set up a means of defense," Shark told them.

"That's crazy!" Anna yelled. "The stadium is on the other side of the city! It'll take 3 hours to get there on foot!"

"Do you have any better suggestions?" Shark asked sharply. He was in no mood to deal with people's ignorance. He had a job to do, and he was going to do it. Anna didn't reply which told Shark that she was agreeing with him. "Alright then! Let's get these wounded out of here!" He ordered as IV and Misael walked over to the wounded students. Shark then looked at Ryu. "You!" He commanded. "A word please." Ryu was surprised that the champion wanted to speak to but followed Shark as the pair began to speak.

"Firstly, how do you have those powers?" Shark asked bluntly. Ryu was taken aback.

"Wha-? Well I…don't know" Ryu managed to choke out, still surprised at the sudden question.

"There has to be more" Shark continued. This annoyed Ryu.

"Ok, what the hell are my powers to do with _you_ " Ryu growled. Shark was really getting under his skin now.

"You have the same powers as Rei and therefore are somehow connected. I want to know how and why" Shark explained. Ryu gritted his teeth.

"For your information, we have bigger problems at hand!" Ryu yelled. "Forget about my powers as their not worth talking about. Instead, go and help those who are in need" Ryu spat.

One second, Ryu was standing on the ground, the next, he was held up in the air from his shirt by Shark. Shark glared at Ryu with cold lifeless eyes.

"Listen to me carefully you little punk," Shark said coldly. "Nobody gets away with speaking to me like that. Try it again, and I will end you." With that said, Shark released his grip and Ryu landed on the floor. Ryu looked up from where he sat to see Shark glaring at him. "We'll continue this later" was all Shark said before walking off. Ryu grit his teeth angrily. He was furious! How dare someone treat him like that! Yuto and Ruri ran over to their friend.

"What was that all about?" Yuto asked worriedly.

"It was nothing," Ryu said, brushing Yuto off. He got up to his feet slowly and could tell the pair were looking at him.

"That sure didn't seem like nothing," Ruri said.

"Well, it wasn't" Ryu huffed, "Come on. We've got to help the others." Ruri and Yuto gave each other a look before following Ryu.

Back at the wounded, Shark was ordering everyone about. The last few students were being patched up. Most of them were still traumatized by the earlier events that had just transpired.

" _Good, the last few are almost finished and this area seems to be clear."_ Shark then looked at the deceased. _"Nothing we can do about them. Such a shame."_

"Ok! Once we're done, we start to move!" Shark bellowed. "If you get left behind then it's your problem!"

"Wait!" Called Ruri. Shark's blue eyes soon met the young girl's pink ones. "We can't leave my brother! We need to find him!" Ruri protested. Shark bit his lip. As much as he would want to help the girl's brother, he couldn't risk several lives just for one.

"I'm sure your brother's fine. Once we reach the stadium, I'll send out search parties for survivors" Shark comforted, but Ruri wasn't listening.

"No! we need to find him!" She continued to protest.

"I can't at the moment!" Shark told her angrily. "I have too much to do and I can't waste my time looking for one person!" He then turned back to the group. "Come on now! we don't have all day!"

As Shark ordered everyone around, Ryu whispered something into Yuto's ear.

"Are you nuts?!" Yuto almost shrieked. "We'd die! And what about Ruri and the others?"

"She's with Shark, she'll be fine. Besides, if we can find Shun and Makoto then we can tell them that everyone is setting up camp at the stadium" Ryu told him. Yuto hesitated for a second but sighed.

"I must be outta my mind to agree." As the group finished patching up the wounded and moved off, nobody realized that two members had suddenly disappeared.

* * *

Far away in the depths of the dead city, another duel had begun. The three Vanguard Elites sneered at their latest prey who stood there calm and motionless.

 **Dai: 4000**

 **VS**

 **Vanguard Elite no.1: 4000**

 **Vanguard Elite no.2: 4000**

 **Vanguard Elite no.3: 4000**

"I'm up first!" The first Vanguard Elite said with a smirk as he picked a card from his hand.

 **Vanguard Elite no.1: 4000**

 **Hand: 5**

"I summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound!" The Vanguard Elite called out as he summoned Academia's most infamous monster. The monster was a large mechanical hound that was green in color and had two large fangs on its lower jaw. It let out a howl and began to growl viciously at the Xyzian.

 **Ancient Gear Hunting Hound: Level 3/EARTH/Machine/1000 ATK/1000 DEF**

"I end my turn! Let's hurry up and end this!" The Vanguard Elite called out to his comrades as the second one drew.

 **Vanguard Elite no.1: 4000**

 **Hand: 4**

 **Vanguard Elite no.2: 4000**

 **Hand: 6**

"I summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound!" An identical copy of the first hound appeared on the field and like its twin, it began to growl viciously.

 **Ancient Gear Hunting Hound: Level 3/EARTH/Machine/1000 ATK/1000 DEF**

"Now attack him directly!" The Vanguard Elite ordered.

"What? That's against the rules!" Dai protested.

"Screw the rules!" Exclaimed the Vanguard Elite with a sinister grin. "On a battlefield, there are no rules!" The second Hunting Hound slammed into Dai, knocking him back a few feet.

 **Dai: 4000 – 1000 = 3000**

"I end my turn!" The second Vanguard Elite said as the third went to draw.

 **Vanguard Elite no.2: 4000**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Vanguard Elite no.3: 4000**

 **Hand: 6**

"I summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound!" A third copy of the dog monster rose onto the field.

"Great. We get to play this song and dance again" Dai muttered.

"Attack him directly!" The third hound ran up to Dai and slammed into him. this time, Dai was flung up from the ground, only to slam back into it, his skin scraping against the remains of the asphalt.

 **Dai: 3000 – 1000 = 2000**

"I end my turn" the third Vanguard Elite finished before looking at the motionless form of Dai resting on the ground.

 **Vanguard Elite no.3: 4000**

 **Hand: 5**

"How pathetic" he taunted. "Did you really think you had a chance at defeating the three of us? You were dead wrong, and soon you'll _be_ dead." Dai slowly rose to his feet. He could feel something warm oozing down his right arm. He raised his arm to inspect and saw blood trickling down his arm as well as small shards of asphalt stuck to his skin.

"You come here and attack us. You kill our friends and family. You show no respect to the game" Dai growled with a clenched fist. He placed his bloody hand on top of his deck. "I will show no mercy" he simply said as he drew, hard.

 **Dai: 2000**

 **Hand: 6**

"I activate the effect of my Heraldic Beast Amphisbaena in my hand!" Dai yelled as he revealed the card. "By discarding another Heraldic Beast, I can special summon it!" Dai slipped another card in his graveyard and placed Amphisbaena on his duel disk. The monster that appeared on the field was a small grey dragon-like creature with green eyes and short wings as well as having a pair of arms with spikes on them. The monster also had no legs. Instead was another dragons head, this one breathing orange fire and having orange eyes as opposed to green.

"What is that thing?" Asked one of the Vanguard Elites slightly nervous. For some reason, the monster's appearance was unnerving.

 **Heraldic Beast Amphisbaena: Level 4/WIND/Dragon/1700 ATK/1100 DEF**

"Now I activate the effect of my Heraldic Beast Leo in my graveyard! Since he was sent there, I get to add one Heraldic Beast to my hand" Dai explained as a card slipped out of his deck. "I think I'll add **Heraldic Beast Griffin** to my hand."

 **Heraldic Beast Leo: Level 4/EARTH/Beast/2000 ATK/1000 DEF**

 **Heraldic Beast Griffin: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/2200 ATK/800 DEF**

"Now I normal summon Heraldic Beast Griffin!" A loud roar was heard and a strange four-legged winged creature descended from the smog above and onto the field. The front half of its body was the body of an eagle, complete with the beak, talons, and wings. The second half of its body was the behind of a lion. The feathers were replaced by fur as they went down the body and the second pair of legs were that of a lion's. funnily enough, though the monster had the head of a bird it let out a lion's roar as it touched the ground.

 **Heraldic Beast Griffin: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/2200 ATK/800 DEF**

"Now he has two level four monsters," another Vanguard Elite said.

"Now, I overlay my level 4 Heraldic Beast's Griffon and Amphisbaena!" Both monsters roared before tuning fully green and shooting up into the air as green energy streams. A galaxy Xyz portal opened up and the two monsters flew in. a burst of light then shot out the portal. "Chained dragon" Dai began to chant as a dark figure began to take form in the overlay network. "Break free and reap vengeance upon our foes!" The figure's form finally solidified, revealing a scaled chest with chains wrapped around it. "Xyz summon! Appear! Rank 4! **Heraldic Beast Chained Dragon**!" A red blur shot out of the portal, only to then come crashing into the ground, sending dust and debris flying everywhere. Shun and the Vanguard Elites watched in amazement as the dust slowly dissipated to reveal the monsters form. The monster was a large red dragon with several chains and locks all over its body. It hissed steam from its mouth as it glared at the three Hunting Hounds who stepped back in fear.

 **Heraldic Beast Chained Dragon: Rank 4/FIRE/Dragon/Xyz/2400 ATK/1800 DEF/Overlay Units: 2**

"Now I activate Chained Dragon's effect!" Dai declared. "I can now send one Heraldic Beast to my graveyard. I'll send Heraldic Beast Unicorn."

"Even if you xyz summoned, you still can beat all three of us," the third Vanguard Elite said slightly nervous.

"I wasn't finished" Dai gruffly replied, sending a wave of fear through the Vanguard Elite.

"I activate the spell, Advanced Heraldry Art! With this, I can now Xyz summon using Heraldic Beasts in my graveyard!" Dai yelled.

"What?!" The three Vanguard Elites cried as two graveyard portals opened up. Out of one portal rose what appeared to be a large lion-like creature. The monster was much larger than a normal and sported gold armor over its body. It let out a ferocious roar as it took its place on the field. The second monster that appeared was a white unicorn with a purple mane and tail and covered in a black armor with yellow markings. The monster stood silently and motionless, sending a shiver down the Vanguard Elite's spines.

 **Heraldic Beast Leo: Level 4/EARTH/Beast/2000 ATK/1000 DEF**

 **Heraldic Beast Unicorn: Level 4/LIGHT/Beast/1100 ATK/1600 DEF**

Not long after the two monsters appeared on the field, the pair of them changed into their respective attribute colors, Leo orange, and Unicorn Yellow, and shot up into the air as streams of energy. A galaxy xyz portal then opened up and the two monsters flew in. A burst of light then shortly followed. "Xyz summon! Appear! Rank 4! Heraldic Beast Chained Dragon!" Once again, the familiar chained dragon flew out the xyz portal and slammed into the ground powerfully.

 **Heraldic Beast Chained Dragon: Rank 4/FIRE/Dragon/Xyz/2400 ATK/1800 DEF/Overlay Units: 2**

"He summoned the same monster. It must be part of his strategy" Shun murmured to himself.

"I use the effect of my dragon again!" Declared Dai. "So I now send another Heraldic Beast to the graveyard." Dai slipped a card into his graveyard. "I'll send a second Heraldic Beast Griffon."

"Ditch as many cards as you like, you monsters can't beat us all" One of the Vanguard Elites taunted. Dai sighed. They were still oblivious to the facts in front of them. They were determined, Dai gave them that, but this determination was shown in the form of arrogance and overconfidence.

"I activate the effect of my first dragon!" Dai announced as one of the dragons absorbed an overlay unit into its chains. He then removed Griffon from his graveyard.

 **Chained Dragon No. 1 Overlay Units: 1**

"By detaching an overlay unit and banishing a Heraldic Beast from my graveyard, my dragon can drain its attack points, Breakage!" Suddenly, the chains and locks that bound the dragon were suddenly broken, and the dragon stretched out its body in approval. As it did, a bright red light emanated from the dragon's body and was sent out in all directions, causing the Vanguard Elites and Shun to cover their eyes.

"Gah! I can't see!" One of them cried. Even Shun had to admit it was painful. Shortly after their vision returned, the Vanguard Elites and Shun could see a bright red aura flaring around the dragon.

 **Chained Dragon no.1 ATK: 2400 + 2200 = 4600**

"I activate the effect of my second dragon! And banish my other Griffon! Breakage!" The second dragon copied the first, breaking its chains away and powering up with a bright red light.

 **Chained Dragon no.2 ATK: 2400 + 2200 = 4600**

"Next I play **Field Bomb**!" Dai yelled as he slipped the card into his duel disk. "We all take 200 points of damage for every monster I control! Since I control two, that's 400 points!" Two explosions occurred in front of each player which sent them flying.

 **Each Vanguard Elite: 4000 – 400 = 3600**

 **Dai: 2000 – 400 = 1600**

The first Vanguard Elite got up.

"We've still got life left!" He protested.

"Not for long" Dai said coldly. "Battle Phase! Chained Dragon! Attack the first Hunting Hound! Released Energy!" The first Dragon let out a roar and unleashed a beam of red energy which struck Hunting Hound and obliterated it.

 **Vanguard Elite no.1: 3600 – 3600 = 0**

 **Vanguard Elite no.1: LOSE**

"Now dragon number two! Your turn!" The second dragon unleashed the same red energy beam and destroyed the second hound, leaving one left.

 **Vanguard Elite no.2: 3600 – 3600**

 **Vanguard Elite no.2: LOSE**

The third Vanguard Elite looked in horror at his comrades bruised bodies on the floor. "You- You've used all you're a-attacks! On my next turn I'll-!"

"There is no next turn" Dai stated. The Vanguard Elite just widened his eyes in fear. "I play **Twin Assault**!" Dai announced as he picked out the next card from his hand. "If I control two copies of the same monster, I can tribute one to allow the other to attack again!"

"What?!" The Vanguard Elite cried. The second dragon roared as it dissipated into red energy which surrounded the first dragon. "Released Energy!" The first dragon fired another red energy beam from its maw, only this time it was a direct attack. The beam struck the Vanguard Elite who cried out in pain as he was flung back by the force of the blast.

 **Vanguard Elite no.3: 3600 – 4600 = 0**

 **Vanguard Elite no.3: LOSE**

Shun stared in amazement. This guy had successfully performed a three-man one turn kill so flawlessly. Shun could never compare to that! Ever! Dai let out a sigh as he deactivated his duel disk. He watched the three motionless bodies of the Vanguard Elites disappear before turning towards Shun who just stared at him.

"Come on, let's get you outta here."

* * *

 _Author made cards_

 **Dragonic Swordsman: Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/1400 ATK/1000 DEF**

 _Effect: If you control no monsters you can special summon this card from your hand. You cannot special summon monsters for the rest of the turn except dragon type monsters._

 **Gimmick Puppet Level Mechanism**

 _Continuous Spell Card_

 _Effect: Once per turn you can target one Gimmick Puppet monster you control and then target another Gimmick Puppet monster on your side of the field or graveyard, the level of the first target becomes the same level as the second target. If this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, you can special summon one gimmick puppet monster from your graveyard._

 **Gimmick Puppet Silver Death: Rank 8/DARK/Machine/Xyz/2000 ATK/2000 DEF/**

 _Effect: 2 level 8 monsters_

 _Once per turn, you can detach one Xyz Material from this card to target one special summoned monster your opponent controls, destroy that target and inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster on the field. Each time a special summoned monster is destroyed, increase this cards ATK by 500.  
_

 **Galactic Dragon's Ergosphere**

 _Spell_

 _Effect: Activate if your opponent controls a monster and you don't, add one 'Galactic Dragon' monster from your deck to your hand. You can only activate one 'Galactic Dragon's Ergosphere' once per turn._

 **Galactic Dragon – Schwarzschild: Level 8/DARK/Dragon/2000 ATK/0 DEF**

 _Effect: If your opponent controls a special summoned monster, you can special summon this card from your hand. If this card attacks, half this cards ATK until the end of the damage step._

 **Galactic Dragon – Black Hole: Rank 8/DARK/Dragon/Xyz/0 ATK/0 DEF**

 _Effect: 3 level 8 monsters_

 _Once per turn you can detach one Xyz Material from this card to target one special summoned monster your opponent controls, banish that target and if you do, this card gains ATK equal to the banished monsters ATK until your next standby phase._

 **Silent Walker: Level 3/WATER/Fish/500 ATK/1100 DEF**

 _Effect: When this card is summoned, all monsters your opponent controls lose 500 ATK and you gain 500 life points. If this card is in the graveyard, you can banish one 'Silent' monster from your graveyard and then special summon this card. You can only use each effect of 'Silent Walker' once per turn._

 **Silent Remora: Level 3/WATER/Fish/200 ATK/1200 DEF**

 _Effect: If you control a face-up WATER monster, you can special summon this card from your hand. You can only special summon 1 'Silent Remora' this way per turn. This card can only be used as a material for the Xyz Summon of a WATER monster.  
_

 **Silent Lancer – White Ray: Rank 3/WATER/Sea Serpent/Xyz/2100 ATK/1000 DEF**

 _Effect: 2 Level 3 WATER monsters  
_

 _Once per turn, you can detach one Xyz Material from this card to target one monster your opponent controls. That targets effects are negated and it loses 500 ATK for every special summoned monster on the field. If this card is destroyed while it has a Xyz material attached to it, special summon this card from the graveyard._

 **Silent Predator – Shark Drake Apex: Rank 4/WATER/Sea Serpent/Xyz/2800 ATK/2100 DEF**

 _Effect: 3 Level 4 WATER monsters  
_

 _You can also special summon this card by using one rank 3 WATER monster you control as a material (Xyz materials attached to that card become Xyz materials attached to this card). You can only control one 'Silent Predator – Shark Drake Apex'. If this card battles an opponent's monster, double all battle damage a player takes during that battle. If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, you can detach one Xyz Material from this card, this card can then make a second attack during this battle phase. If this card is destroyed while it has a Xyz material attached to it, you can special summon this card from your graveyard._

 **Heraldic Beast Griffin: Level 4/WIND/Winged Beast/2200 ATK/800 DEF**

 _Effect: During either player's turn, if this card is in your graveyard, you can banish this card from your graveyard to target one 'Heraldic Beast' Xyz monster you control, for the rest of this turn, that monster cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects. You can only use the effect of 'Heraldic Beast Griffin' once per turn._

 **Heraldic Beast Chained Dragon: Rank 4/FIRE/Dragon/Xyz/2400 ATK/1800 DEF**

 _Effect: 2 level 4 'Heraldic Beast' monsters_

 _When this card is Xyz summoned, send one 'Heraldic Beast' from your deck to your graveyard. Once per turn, you can detach one Xyz Material from this card to target one 'Heraldic Beast in your graveyard. Banish that target, and if you do, this card gains ATK equal to the banished monsters ATK until the end phase.  
_

 **Field Bomb**

 _Spell_

 _Effect: All players take 200 points of damage for each monster you control._

 **Twin Assault**

 _Quick-Play Spell_

 _Effect: Activate after all monsters you control have attached and if you control two monsters with the same name. Tribute one monster you control. For the rest of the battle phase, all monsters with the same name as the target can make a second attack._

* * *

 **So there we go! Honestly, Dai was a little bit difficult to write as I don't really have much experience with Heraldic Beasts (IDK why I gave him them). But I think it turned out alright in the end. I also gave Misael a new archetype that is loosely based on his Zexal deck if you couldn't guess. And Shark got his archetype finally! I was debating between two different archetypes to give him and I finally decided to give him the Silent archetype. I think it's a pretty neat little archetype myself. Also! Story progression. I kinda have a base idea for what happens over the next few chapters and so on. Previously shown characters are going to be given screen time soon! Just waiting for the right moment to place them in. As for other things, I now have a VRAINS story that I'm going to be working on. It's a little side project that I came up with during a day out and I wanted to try it. my main focus is going to be this and my Zexal story however if you haven't checked it out.**

 **Anyway, if you did enjoy this chapter then leave a review why and I will see you soon!**

 **Bye!**


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